Merck & Co., Inc.’s (MRK) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

by · The Markets Daily

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $155.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.’s FY2024 earnings at $7.66 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $134.58.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $109.77 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $278.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

(Get Free Report)

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.

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