Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) rose 1.5% during trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $120.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Merck & Co., Inc. traded as high as $111.97 and last traded at $111.09. Approximately 12,832,522 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 13,433,054 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.45.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of 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 at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $271.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.