Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) dropped 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $98.10 and last traded at $98.25. Approximately 1,782,473 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,845,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

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 $250.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $109.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results 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 company 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. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

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