Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) saw a downside of -0.47% to close Monday at $105.84 after subtracting -$0.5 on the day. The 5-day average trading volume is 5,469,720 shares of the company’s common stock. It has gained $108.40 in the past week and touched a new high 2 times within the past 5 days. An average of 6,140,060 shares of the company has been traded in the last 20 days, and the 50-day average volume stands at 6,824,160.
MRK’s 1-month performance is -3.30% or -$4.37 on its low of $104.92 reached on 09/06/23. The company’s shares have touched a 52-week low of $85.29 and high of $119.65, with the stock’s rally to the 52-week high happening on 05/03/23. YTD, MRK has lost -4.61% or -$5.11 and has reached a new high 10 times. However, the current price is down -11.54% from the 52-week high price.
Insider Transactions
MRK stock investors last saw insider trading activity on Aug 14.MIZELL STEVEN (EVP, Chief HR Officer) most recently sold 4,250 shares at $109.01 per share on Aug 14. This transaction cost the insider $463,292. EVP, Chief HR Officer, MIZELL STEVEN, sold 4,500 shares at a price of $105.49 on Aug 03. Then, on Aug 02, President, Human Health Int?l Romanelli Joseph sold 59 shares at a price of $107.37 per share. This transaction amounted to $6,335.
Valuation Metrics
MRK stock has a beta of 0.34. Moving on to other valuation ratios, the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 4.68 while the price-to-book (PB) in the most recent quarter is 6.95, with the price to cash flow ratio at 24.80.
Merck & Co Inc’s quick ratio for the period ended June 29 was 1.03, with the current ratio over the same period at 1.28. As well, the company’s long term debt to equity for the quarter ending June 29 was 0.88, while the total debt to equity was 0.95. In terms of profitability, the gross margin trailing 12 months is 71.26%. The trailing 12-month EBITDA margin is 40.04% while for the period ending June 29, Merck & Co Inc’s operating margin was 12.87%. The firm’s gross profit as reported stood at $41.87 billion against revenue of $59.28 billion.
Earnings Surprise
For the quarterly period ending June 29 this year, Net income and sales went up compared to those figures reported in the previous quarter. Net income grew 166.01% to -$5.97 billion, while revenue of $2.82 billion was 147.21% off the previous quarter. Analysts expected MRK to announce -$2.18 per share in earnings in its latest quarter, but it posted -$2.06, representing a 5.50% surprise. EBITDA for the quarter stood at more than -$4.11 billion. MRK stock balance sheet for the quarter ending June 29 shows that total liabilities totaled 65.73 billion, with total debt at $36.91 billion. Shareholders hold equity totaling $2.54 billion.
Let’s look briefly at Merck & Co Inc (MRK) price momentum from a technical analysis perspective. The 9-day relative strength index as at close on 25 September was 34.01% to suggest the stock is trending Neutral, with historical volatility in this time period at 6.54%.
The stock’s 5-day moving average is $106.72, reflecting a -1.84% or -$1.98 change from its current price. MRK is currently trading -3.97% above its 20-day SMA, -10.22% above its 100-day SMA. However, the stock’s current price level is away from the SMA50 by -1.40% and SMA200 by-2.84%.
Stochastic %K and %D was 27.39% and 33.86% and the average true range (ATR) pointed at 1.53. The RSI (14) points at 40.18%, while the 14-day stochastic is at 19.37% with the period’s ATR at 1.64. The stock’s 9-day MACD Oscillator is pointing at -0.92 and -1.27 on the 14-day charts.
Analyst Ratings
In the most recent analyst report for Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK), HSBC Securities launched coverage with a Hold rating. Analysts offering their rating for MRK stock have a consensus rating for the stock as Overweight. Currently, 0 brokerage advisors rate MRK as a “sell,”, while 9 advise that investors “Hold.” 0 analysts have rated the stock as underweight. 4 rates the stock as overweight while 16 have offered a “buy” rating.
What is MRK’s price target for the next 12 months?
Analysts have a consensus price target ranging from a low of $103.00 and a high of $135.00, with their median price target at $125.00. Looking at these predictions, the average price target given by analysts is for Merck & Co Inc (MRK) stock is $124.01.
