Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price was down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $101.38 and last traded at $101.44. Approximately 1,641,191 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 8,823,021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.50. 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 $249.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,044,000 after buying an additional 387,420 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,874,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,372,000 after acquiring an additional 114,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after acquiring an additional 64,996 shares during 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.