Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $113.22 and last traded at $114.06. Approximately 1,501,339 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 8,651,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $287.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.