Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Earns "Overweight" Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.84% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $125.18. 5,984,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,315,480. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $126.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.76. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $317.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 891.43, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 160,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,858 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,162,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 28,772 shares of the company's stock worth $3,796,000 after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 137,315 shares of the company's stock worth $18,119,000 after buying an additional 5,057 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.