Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $97.90 and last traded at $98.23. 2,187,120 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 8,846,921 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $249.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.