Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares were down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $102.90 and last traded at $103.65. Approximately 3,099,263 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 8,762,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $263.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Martin Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the third quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 49,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 60,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,911,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,725,000. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy CG LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% in the third quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 52,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,999,000 after purchasing an additional 3,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.