Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $100.37 and last traded at $100.59. Approximately 1,532,312 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 9,195,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.2 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $252.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27,873.3% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 381.6% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 53,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,602,000 after purchasing an additional 42,254 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.1% in the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 8,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $511,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 16,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 6,493 shares during the last quarter. 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.