Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Now Covered by Sanford C. Bernstein

Stock analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.14% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $110.43 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 122.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.