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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) dropped 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 were traded 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.04. 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 has a market cap of $258.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,135,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $952,402,000 after purchasing an additional 64,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.