Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Leerink Swann from $69.00 to $67.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Leerink Swann’s target price suggests a potential upside of 20.31% from the stock’s previous close.
A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MRK. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Jefferies Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, October 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Citigroup raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.47.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) traded down $0.71 on Tuesday, hitting $55.69. The stock had a trading volume of 4,527,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,474,021. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.63 and a 52 week high of $66.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $152,840.00, a P/E ratio of 59.88, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.75.
Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Thomas H. Glocer sold 5,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.20, for a total value of $281,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Weir Mirian M. Graddick sold 60,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.63, for a total value of $3,697,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 101,484 shares in the company, valued at $6,254,458.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,500 shares of company stock worth $5,039,175 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 172.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,705,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,347,000 after buying an additional 4,243,246 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 55.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,623,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,185,000 after buying an additional 3,428,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 194,144,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,442,709,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312,459 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 95,700.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,281,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,277,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 415.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,560,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,869,844 shares in the last quarter. 73.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile
Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company. The Company offers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services and Alliances. The Company’s Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products marketed either directly by the Company or through joint ventures.
