Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $105.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $136.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim decreased 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MRK opened at $98.05 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $248.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRK. IRON Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the second quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 17,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,191,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.