Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 0.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) were up 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $101.50 and last traded at $100.43. Approximately 2,241,503 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 9,285,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started 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 for the company. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.