Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $108.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $270.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.09. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $112.90.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the third quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,139,901,000 after buying an additional 5,135,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,084,000 after buying an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.