Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price rose 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $103.45 and last traded at $103.12. Approximately 9,802,172 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 9,134,905 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.24. The company has a market cap of $260.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40.

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 net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 64.57%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.