2 weeks Ago By ABMN Staff
Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. ( NYSE:MRK – Free Report ) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.
Guggenheim currently has a $115.00 target price on the stock. A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MRK.
Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.
00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co.
, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.
00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc.
from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.
Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.
00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co.
, Inc. from $118.00 to $112.
00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.
50. Read Our Latest Analysis on MRK Merck & Co., Inc.
Stock Up 1.9 % Merck & Co., Inc.
( NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.
85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co.
, Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.
35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.
51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS.
Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.
8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc.
will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Merck & Co.
, Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares.
This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th.
Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.
24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th.
Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.
14%. Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.
In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N.
Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.
36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60.
This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link .
Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.
25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.
25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock.
The disclosure for this purchase can be found here . 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company.
Wendell David Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc.
by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.
now owns 54,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc.
by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 52,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 10,216 shares in the last quarter.
Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc.
by 15.2% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.
now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc.
by 3.9% in the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 34,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period.
Finally, Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $458,000.
Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock. Merck & Co.
, Inc. Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other.
The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc.
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