Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to Moderate Buy

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “moderate buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:MRK opened at $122.52 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $125.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. The business 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%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Jennifer Zachary sold 121,573 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,211,341.40. This represents a 63.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 160,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,368,240.08. The trade was a 19.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chemung Canal Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% during the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 76,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 47,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,991,000 after purchasing an additional 6,082 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 207,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,444,000 after acquiring an additional 18,187 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 7,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Merck & Co., Inc.

Here are the key news stories impacting Merck & Co., Inc. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FDA approval in animal health: Merck Animal Health won U.S. FDA approval for NUMELVI (atinvicitinib) tablets for dogs, giving Merck a first?to?market second?generation JAK inhibitor in veterinary dermatology and expanding recurring revenue potential in its animal health division. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: HIV regimen data and regulatory progress: Merck reported late?breaking Phase 3 data for the two?drug doravirine/islatravir (DOR/ISL) regimen that matched Gilead’s Biktarvy and is under FDA review — a potential new chronic product to offset future revenue declines. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Late?breaking CROI data: Merck announced three Phase 3 datasets for DOR/ISL at CROI 2026, reinforcing the clinical case and regulatory timing for the HIV regimen. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Pediatric RSV asset shows promise: Positive Phase 3 SMART trial results for ENFLONSIA (clesrovimab) in infants/children under 2 expand Merck’s respiratory pipeline optionality. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage and industry chatter: RBC initiated coverage with an Outperform and $142 PT (supportive), while Zacks, Barchart and other outlets note strong relative performance and investor interest — these shape sentiment but are not immediate revenue drivers. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate events and strategy reports: Merck will present at TD Cowen and appears in digital transformation profiles — useful for longer?term narrative and institutional engagement. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Keytruda patent cliff and revenue risk: Coverage points to an upcoming Keytruda patent cliff that remains the major long?term headwind; investors may be taking profits from recent multi?session gains while awaiting clearer offsetting revenues from new launches. Article Title

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.