Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday . The company traded as low as $75.82 and last traded at $75.88, with a volume of 15605903 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MRK shares. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.31. The company has a market capitalization of $190.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.