Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Hsbc Global Res

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MRK. Barclays decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $103.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other 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.