Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Upgraded at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.2 %

MRK opened at $103.60 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $262.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares during the period. 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.