Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by Daiwa Capital Markets

Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

MRK stock opened at $100.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.94. The stock has a market cap of $254.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.