Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.78% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.71.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $119.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $295.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $107.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.11. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $122.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.03. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 28.08%.The business had revenue of $16.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caroline Litchfield sold 41,997 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.61, for a total value of $5,023,261.17. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 90,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,787,865.12. The trade was a 31.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert M. Davis sold 47,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $5,599,109.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,362,780.08. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 320,176 shares of company stock worth $38,281,735 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,307,572,000 after buying an additional 249,110 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636,183 shares during the period. DLD Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,997,933,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.