Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $110.00 to $111.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.38% from the stock’s current price.

MRK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $4.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.05. The company had a trading volume of 19,419,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,566,632. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $105.07. The company has a market capitalization of $240.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The company had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.