Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $135.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $125.18 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 894.14, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after purchasing an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.