NYSE:MRK

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

$83.13

-2.68 (-3.12 %)

(As of 09/21/2020 12:00 AM ET)

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Today's Range

$82.09

Now: $83.13▼

$85.34

50-Day Range

$80.24

MA: $84.09▼

$86.93

52-Week Range

$65.25

Now: $83.13▼

$92.64

Volume9.97 million shs

Average Volume10.97 million shs

Market Capitalization$210.26 billion

P/E Ratio20.28

Dividend Yield2.84%

Beta0.45

Merck & Co., Inc. provides healthcare solutions worldwide. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services, and Alliances. The company offers therapeutic and preventive agents to treat cardiovascular, type 2 diabetes, chronic hepatitis C virus, HIV-1 infection, intra-abdominal, fungal infection, insomnia, and inflammatory diseases. It also provides neuromuscular blocking agents; cholesterol modifying medicines; and anti-bacterial and vaginal contraceptive products. In addition, the company offers products to prevent chemotherapy-induced and post-operative nausea and vomiting; treat non-small-cell lung, ovarian and breast, thyroid, and cervical cancer, as well as brain tumors; and prevent diseases caused by human papillomavirus, as well as offers vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, shingles, rotavirus gastroenteritis, and pneumococcal diseases. Further, it provides antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs to treat infectious and respiratory diseases, fertility disorders, and pneumonia in cattle, bovine, and swine; vaccines for poultry; parasiticide for sea lice in salmon; and antibiotics and vaccines for fishes. Additionally, the company offers companion animal products, such as ointments; diabetes mellitus treatment and anthelmintic products; products to treat fleas and ticks in dogs and cats; fertility management products for horses; vaccines for dogs, cats, and horses; and products for protection against bites from fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and sandflies. It has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; and Eisai Co., Ltd. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies and entities, physicians, distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

Beat the Market (BTM) Rank^™

3.4 Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
Merck & Co., Inc. has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.85, and is based on 11 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $94.54, Merck & Co., Inc. has a forecasted upside of 13.7% from its current price of $83.13.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
Merck & Co., Inc. has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

2.5 Community Rank

Outperform Votes
Merck & Co., Inc. has received 855 “outperform” votes. (Add your “outperform” vote.)
Underperform Votes
Merck & Co., Inc. has received 831 “underperform” votes. (Add your “underperform” vote.)
Community Sentiment
Merck & Co., Inc. has received 50.71% “outperform” votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Merck & Co., Inc. and other stocks. Vote “Outperform” if you believe MRK will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote “Underperform” if you believe MRK will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

2.5 Dividend Strength

Dividend Yield
Merck & Co., Inc. pays a meaningful dividend of 2.84%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.
Dividend Growth
Merck & Co., Inc. has only been increasing its dividend for 1 years.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 47.01%. 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 40.94% next year. This indicates that Merck & Co., Inc. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

1.0 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 $5,303,782.00 in company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 0.28% of the stock of Merck & Co., Inc. is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
73.18% 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 grow by 4.75% in the coming year, from $5.69 to $5.96 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 20.28, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 18.37.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 20.28, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 26.63.
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
Merck & Co., Inc. has a PEG Ratio of 2.19. 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 8.14. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Overall Beat the Market Rank^™

2.13 out of 5 stars

Industry, Sector and Symbol

Stock Exchange NYSE

Industry Pharmaceutical preparations

Sub-IndustryPharmaceuticals

SectorMedical

Current SymbolNYSE:MRK

Previous Symbol

CUSIP58933Y10

CIK310158

Webwww.merck.com

Phone908-740-4000

Debt

Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.94

Current Ratio1.32

Quick Ratio1.05

Price-To-Earnings

Trailing P/E Ratio20.28

Forward P/E Ratio14.61

P/E Growth2.19

Sales & Book Value

Annual Sales$46.84 billion

Price / Sales4.49

Cash Flow$6.61 per share

Price / Cash Flow12.58

Book Value$10.21 per share

Price / Book8.14

Profitability

EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$5.19

Net Income$9.84 billion

Net Margins22.20%

Return on Equity52.94%

Return on Assets16.50%

Miscellaneous

Employees71,000

Outstanding Shares2,529,241,000

Market Cap$210.26 billion

Next Earnings Date11/3/2020 (Estimated)

OptionableOptionable

$83.13

-2.68 (-3.12 %)

(As of 09/21/2020 12:00 AM ET)

30 days | 90 days | 365 days | Advanced Chart

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Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Frequently Asked Questions

How has Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock been impacted by COVID-19 (Coronavirus)?

Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock was trading at $79.25 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, MRK shares have increased by 4.9% and is now trading at $83.13.
View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.

Do Wall Street analysts recommend investors buy shares of Merck & Co., Inc.?

13 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. in the last year. There are currently 2 hold ratings and 11 buy ratings for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Buy."
View analyst ratings for Merck & Co., Inc..

When is Merck & Co., Inc.'s next earnings date?

Merck & Co., Inc. is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Tuesday, November 3rd 2020.
View our earnings forecast for Merck & Co., Inc..

How were Merck & Co., Inc.'s earnings last quarter?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July, 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.23. The firm earned $10.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.52 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 22.20% and a return on equity of 52.94%. The firm's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share.
View Merck & Co., Inc.'s earnings history.

How often does Merck & Co., Inc. pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for Merck & Co., Inc.?

Merck & Co., Inc. announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share on Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th.
View Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend history.

How will Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock buyback program work?

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 25th 2018, which allows the company to buyback $10,000,000,000.00 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

What guidance has Merck & Co., Inc. issued on next quarter's earnings?

Merck & Co., Inc. issued an update on its FY20 earnings guidance on Friday, July, 31st. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $5.63-5.78 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus EPS estimate of $5.31. The company issued revenue guidance of $47.2-48.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $47.33 billion.

What price target have analysts set for MRK?

13 brokerages have issued twelve-month price targets for Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock. Their forecasts range from $89.00 to $105.00. On average, they anticipate Merck & Co., Inc.'s share price to reach $94.54 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 13.7% from the stock's current price.
View analysts' price targets for Merck & Co., Inc..

Has Merck & Co., Inc. been receiving favorable news coverage?

Media stories about MRK stock have been trending somewhat positive this week, InfoTrie reports. The research group identifies negative and positive news coverage by analyzing more than six thousand news and blog sources in real time. The firm ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative five to five, with scores nearest to five being the most favorable. Merck & Co., Inc. earned a coverage optimism score of 2.0 on InfoTrie's scale. They also assigned news stories about the company a news buzz of 0.0 out of 10, indicating that recent news coverage is extremely unlikely to have an impact on the stock's share price in the next few days.
View the latest news about Merck & Co., Inc..

Are investors shorting Merck & Co., Inc.?

Merck & Co., Inc. saw a decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 11,800,000 shares, a decline of 13.9% from the July 30th total of 13,700,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.5% of the company's stock are sold short.
View Merck & Co., Inc.'s Short Interest.

Who are some of Merck & Co., Inc.'s key competitors?

Some companies that are related to Merck & Co., Inc. include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Pfizer (PFE), AbbVie (ABBV), Eli Lilly And Co (LLY), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Zoetis (ZTS), Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP), Royalty Pharma (RPRX), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), Mylan (MYL), Perrigo (PRGO), Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), Pacira Biosciences (PCRX), Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) and Zogenix (ZGNX).
View all competitors.

What other stocks do shareholders of Merck & Co., Inc. own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Merck & Co., Inc. investors own include Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AT&T (T), Intel (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Walt Disney (DIS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Verizon Communications (VZ), AbbVie (ABBV) and Home Depot (HD).

Who are Merck & Co., Inc.'s key executives?

Merck & Co., Inc.'s management team includes the following people:

Mr. Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman, Pres & CEO (Age 64)
Mr. Robert M. Davis, Exec. VP of Global Services & CFO (Age 52)
Ms. Jennifer L. Zachary, Exec. VP & Gen. Counsel (Age 41)
Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, Exec. VP & Pres of Merck Research Laboratories (Age 67)
Mr. Adam H. Schechter, Special Advisor (Age 54)

What is Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock symbol?

Merck & Co., Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "MRK."

Who are Merck & Co., Inc.'s major shareholders?

Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock is owned by a number of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc. (8.41%), BlackRock Inc. (7.81%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.25%), Nordea Investment Management AB (0.73%), FMR LLC (0.51%) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. (0.50%). Company insiders that own Merck & Co., Inc. stock include Adam H Schechter, Ashley Watson, Frank Clyburn, Julie L Gerberding, Kenneth C Frazier, Leslie A Brun, Merck & Co, Inc, Richard R Deluca, Rita A Karachun, Robert M Davis, Roger M Perlmutter, Sanat Chattopadhyay, Thomas H Glocer and Wendell P Weeks.
View institutional ownership trends for Merck & Co., Inc..

Which institutional investors are selling Merck & Co., Inc. stock?

MRK stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Vanguard Group Inc., Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Marshall Wace North America L.P., Toronto Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Thornburg Investment Management Inc., CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC, and Victory Capital Management Inc.. Company insiders that have sold Merck & Co., Inc. company stock in the last year include Frank Clyburn, Julie L Gerberding, Sanat Chattopadhyay, and Wendell P Weeks.
View insider buying and selling activity for Merck & Co., Inc..

Which institutional investors are buying Merck & Co., Inc. stock?

MRK stock was purchased by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Nordea Investment Management AB, Point72 Asset Management L.P., Sarasin & Partners LLP, Epoch Investment Partners Inc., Ceredex Value Advisors LLC, BlackRock Inc., TD Asset Management Inc., and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc..
View insider buying and selling activity for Merck & Co., Inc..

How do I buy shares of Merck & Co., Inc.?

Shares of MRK can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.

What is Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock price today?

One share of MRK stock can currently be purchased for approximately $83.13.

How big of a company is Merck & Co., Inc.?

Merck & Co., Inc. has a market capitalization of $210.26 billion and generates $46.84 billion in revenue each year. The company earns $9.84 billion in net income (profit) each year or $5.19 on an earnings per share basis. Merck & Co., Inc. employs 71,000 workers across the globe.

What is Merck & Co., Inc.'s official website?

The official website for Merck & Co., Inc. is www.merck.com.

How can I contact Merck & Co., Inc.?

Merck & Co., Inc.'s mailing address is 2000 GALLOPING HILL ROAD, KENILWORTH NJ, 07033. The company can be reached via phone at 908-740-4000 or via email at [email protected]

This page was last updated on 9/21/2020 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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