NYSE:MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. - MRK Stock Forecast, Price & News

$103.27

-0.19 (-0.18%)

(As of 02/3/2023 03:49 PM ET)

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Today's Range: $102.48
▼
$103.79
50-Day Range: $103.46
▼
$114.84
52-Week Range: $72.88
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$115.49

Volume: 8.08 million shs
Average Volume: 9.01 million shs
Market Capitalization: $261.83 billion

P/E Ratio: 17.18
Dividend Yield: 2.73%
Price Target: $114.94

Institutional Ownership

Merck & Co., Inc. MarketRank™ Forecast

Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy
2.76 Rating Score
Upside/Downside: 12.1% Upside
$115.41 Price Target
Short Interest: Healthy
0.64% of Shares Sold Short
Dividend Strength: Strong
Based on Four Factors
Sustainability: -1.65
Upright™ Environmental Score
News Sentiment: 0.52
Based on 30 Articles This Week
Insider Trading: Selling Shares
$58.03 M Sold Last Quarter
Proj. Earnings Growth: -3.24%
From $7.40 to $7.16 Per Share

Overall MarketRank^™

MarketRank is calculated as an average of available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

3.18 out of 5 stars

Medical Sector

11th out of 1,029 stocks

Pharmaceutical Preparations Industry

6th out of 501 stocks

3.4

Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
Merck & Co., Inc. has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.76, and is based on 13 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $115.41, Merck & Co., Inc. has a forecasted upside of 12.1% from its current price of $102.93.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
Merck & Co., Inc. has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

5.0

Short Interest

Percentage of Shares Shorted
0.64% of the outstanding shares of Merck & Co., Inc. have been sold short.
Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover
Merck & Co., Inc. has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.7, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.
Change versus previous month
Short interest in Merck & Co., Inc. has recently decreased by 5.75%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

4.2

Dividend Strength

Dividend Yield
Merck & Co., Inc. pays a meaningful dividend of 2.73%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.
Dividend Growth
Merck & Co., Inc. has been increasing its dividend for 12 years.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 48.59%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.
Dividend Sustainability
Based on earnings estimates, Merck & Co., Inc. will have a dividend payout ratio of 40.78% next year. This indicates that Merck & Co., Inc. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

4.4

Sustainability and ESG

Overall ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Score
Merck & Co., Inc. has received a 66.51% net impact score from Upright. The largest positive contribution comes from its "Physical diseases" impact, which is mostly driven by its "Pembrolizumab", "DPP-4 inhibitors", "Clinical research services for infectious diseases", and "Clinical research services for cancer" products. See details.
Environmental Sustainability
The Environmental Impact score for Merck & Co., Inc. is -1.65.

3.1

News and Social Media Coverage

News Sentiment
Merck & Co., Inc. has a news sentiment score of 0.52. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Medical companies.
News Coverage This Week
MarketBeat has tracked 30 news articles for Merck & Co., Inc. this week, compared to 13 articles on an average week.
Social Mentions This Week
MarketBeat has tracked 2 reddit mentions for Merck & Co., Inc. this week, compared to 0 mentions on an average week.
Search Interest
200 people have searched for MRK on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 135% compared to the previous 30 days.
MarketBeat Follows
67 people have added Merck & Co., Inc. to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 20% compared to the previous 30 days.

2.5

Company Ownership

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling
In the past three months, Merck & Co., Inc. insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $58,033,827.00 in company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 0.29% of the stock of Merck & Co., Inc. is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
72.89% of the stock of Merck & Co., Inc. is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

1.3

Earnings and Valuation

Earnings Growth
Earnings for Merck & Co., Inc. are expected to decrease by -3.24% in the coming year, from $7.40 to $7.16 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 17.13, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 135.55.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 17.13, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 111.69.
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
Merck & Co., Inc. has a PEG Ratio of 1.37. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.
Price to Book Value per Share Ratio
Merck & Co., Inc. has a P/B Ratio of 6.80. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

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About Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock

Merck & Co., Inc. is a US-based multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company. It was officially founded in 1891 as the US arm of Merck Group, headquartered in Germany. Merck Group was founded in 1668 when Friedrick Jacob Merck purchased a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany. The company transformed from a pharmacy into a drug manufacturer in 1827 with the commercialization of morphine and the perfection of the manufacturing process. The company will later gain recognition for isolating and commercializing the manufacture of cocaine as well.

Merck Group sent Theodore Weicker to New York as its representative in 1889 and he quickly began to set up operations. The original investment of $200,000 resulted in a facility in lower Manhattan and the addition of Merck family member George Merck to the project. They began operations in 1891 and were in business as the US branch of Merck Group until 1917 and the onset of World War I.

World War I brought about the Trading With The Enemy Act of 1917 and the nationalization of Merck Group’s US operations. Those operations were repurchased at a government auction only 2 years later with the help of Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, but the split was done. The company retained rights to the Merck name in the US but remained independent. One of many noteworthy achievements in the post-War period is the discovery of streptomycin, which was revolutionary in treating tuberculosis.

In 1953 the company merged with Sharp& Dohme to form the then 2nd largest US drug manufacturer. The merger brought smallpox vaccines to the portfolio and opened a new avenue of research for the business. Since then, advancements in vaccine technology include treatments for mumps and chickenpox. Other notable advancements include the discovery of statins as a cholesterol inhibitor and work in veterinary medicine.

Today, Merck & Co operates through 2 segments and under 2 different names with a headquarters in Kenilworth, NJ. The company operates as Merck & Co in the US and as Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the US and Canada. The 2 segments are Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. Revenue topped $49 billion in 2022 and employed more than 68,000 people. The company has 8 research facilities near major university systems, including 7 in the US and 1 in the UK. As of 2022, the company had 82 pipeline products in Phase 2 trials, 30 in Phase 3 trials and 3 under review.

The Pharmaceutical segment researches discover and commercializes human health products in several areas of medicine. These include but are not limited to oncology, acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes. This segment has 6 blockbuster drugs as of late 2022, with each generating more than $1 billion in revenue. The leading treatments are Keytruda for treating cancer-related immune conditions, Gardisil which is a vaccine for HPV and Januvia for treating Type-II diabetes. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary healthcare products and services. Both segments sell to healthcare facilities and distributors.

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