Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Overweight Rating for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.77% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,166,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,667,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $84.52 and a one year high of $119.65. The firm has a market cap of $276.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The company had revenue of $15.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,500,144.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after buying an additional 169,536 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,064,000 after purchasing an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.