2 weeks Ago By Defense World Staff
Guggenheim reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.
Guggenheim currently has a $115.00 target price on the stock.A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock.
Leerink Partners dropped 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 report on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co.
, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.
00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc.
from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $128.
00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.
00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc.
in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co.
, Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.50.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Merck & Co., Inc.Merck & Co.
, Inc. Stock Up 1.9 %MRK stock opened at $77.
93 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.
47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.16. Merck & Co.
, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.93 and a 12 month high of $134.
63. The company has a market cap of $196.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.
58, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th.
The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.
13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.
51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc.
had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%.
Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.
8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS.
As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.
01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Merck & Co., Inc.
Announces DividendThe business also recently disclosed 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.
The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.
16%. Merck & Co., Inc.
’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%. Merck & Co.
, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares.
This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and SellingIn other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc.
stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.
25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25.
This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.
76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.
60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position.
The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business.
Wendell David Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc.
by 9.4% in the first quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.
now owns 54,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc.
by 23.9% in the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 52,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 10,216 shares during the period.
Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc.
by 3.9% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 34,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,000 after buying an additional 1,294 shares during the period.
Finally, Lesa Sroufe & Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $458,000.
76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Merck & Co.
, Inc. (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.
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