Truist Financial Boosts Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $143.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $142.00 to $143.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Truist Financial's price target indicates a potential upside of 9.00% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,757,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,336,532. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $126.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.69. The company has a market capitalization of $332.31 billion, a PE ratio of 937.57, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company's stock worth $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company's stock worth $3,966,029,000 after buying an additional 4,731,152 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company's stock worth $342,814,000 after buying an additional 2,449,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company's stock worth $262,818,000 after buying an additional 2,402,700 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.