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

Truist Financial reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $110.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $130.00.

MRK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.2 %

MRK stock opened at $99.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.18. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after buying an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.