Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $155.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $298.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.07, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.