Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.98% from the stock’s current price.

MRK has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $100.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,398,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,625,796. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $105.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.97 and its 200 day moving average is $84.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%.Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.