Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

MRK has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.9%

MRK opened at $113.44 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $113.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.28.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Payne Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Payne Capital LLC now owns 10,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 1,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 38,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 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.