Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $100.37 and last traded at $100.59. Approximately 1,532,312 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 9,195,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $103.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm 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 business earned $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 246,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,983,000 after acquiring an additional 57,106 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.