Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Given New $136.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price dropped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $150.00 to $136.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 32.59% from the company’s current price.

MRK has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $102.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,773,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,825,524. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $259.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.60 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.58 and a 200-day moving average of $121.04.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.