Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $155.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.’s FY2024 earnings at $7.66 EPS.

MRK has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE MRK opened at $109.77 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $278.03 billion, a PE ratio of 121.97, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 3,130,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,448,000 after buying an additional 967,462 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 95,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,899,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 8,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.