Morgan Stanley Lowers Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Price Target to $123.00

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $123.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $101.88 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.60 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 37.32% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.