Royal Bank Of Canada Initiates Coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $142.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.42% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $124.11 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $124.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $308.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.15, for a total transaction of $14,485,422.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,211,341.40. The trade was a 63.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $4,556,870.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock valued at $38,281,735. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.2% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Clark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $218,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 65.6% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 9,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.