Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $110.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $98.60 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.81.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. 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 have recently modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors 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.