Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Equities researchers at Citigroup began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.77% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE MRK traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $113.88. 811,875 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,179,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $281.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.91. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $125.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares in the company, valued at $8,211,341.40. This represents a 63.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 37,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total transaction of $4,556,870.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. This trade represents a 19.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 209,258 shares of company stock valued at $25,101,593. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,997,933,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares during the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,012,530,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $585,192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.