Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares were down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $97.90 and last traded at $98.74. Approximately 3,605,402 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 9,312,410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.6% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 16,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 156,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,320,000 after buying an additional 54,984 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.