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, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Ridgeback Biotherapeutics; and Gilead Sciences, Inc. to jointly develop and commercialize long-acting treatments in HIV. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.
Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance
NYSE:MRK traded up $2.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.02. The stock had a trading volume of 12,317,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,914,052. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.89 and a 52 week high of $95.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $90.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.39.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.18. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.00% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The firm had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 15th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 14th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.27%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 6th. Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 27th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $76.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.44.