Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Bank of America from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, December 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $98.25 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $105.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.5% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,456,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,145,000 after buying an additional 5,094,088 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after buying an additional 4,636,183 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.