Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $125.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $90.00. Merck & Co., Inc. traded as high as $105.84 and last traded at $105.7080, with a volume of 21978944 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.40.

MRK has been the subject of several other research reports. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $2,858,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $991,553,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.74 and a 200-day moving average of $83.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.