Merck & Co., Inc.’s (MRK) Hold Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by analysts at Truist Financial in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $130.00. Truist Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $101.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.39 and a 200-day moving average of $111.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.