--- title: "Argus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/296919497.md" description: "Argus Research raised its price target for Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) from $145 to $170, assigning a 'buy' rating, indicating a potential upside of 12.83%. This follows similar upgrades from Barclays, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, and Scotiabank. Meanwhile, insiders EVP Chirfi Guindo and Richard R. Deluca sold shares totaling nearly $4.7 million in early August. Merck recently reported quarterly earnings that beat consensus estimates." datetime: "2026-08-25T13:06:34.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/296919497.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296919497.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/296919497.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Argus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Argus from $145.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus' target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.83% from the stock's previous close. Get **Merck & Co., Inc.** alerts: - MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/17 - 08/21 Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.35. **Read Our Latest Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.** ## Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance - Amylyx Stock: Why the Full Pipeline Story Matters Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $150.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $371.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.54, a PEG ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.58 and a 12 month high of $154.49. The firm's 50-day moving average is $128.81 and its 200 day moving average is $121.53. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $16.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 4.77%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.660-2.760 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year. ## Insiders Place Their Bets - Merck Just Made a Big Bet on a New Cancer Growth Engine In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Chirfi Guindo sold 15,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total transaction of $1,965,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,106,303. The trade was a 24.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard R. Deluca sold 20,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.43, for a total value of $2,710,857.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,569,312.29. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,238 shares of company stock valued at $29,977,783. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock. ## Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the second quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,901 shares of the company's stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,746 shares of the company's stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 8,701 shares of the company's stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 3,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock. ## About Merck & Co., Inc. (Get Free Report) 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. ## Further Reading - Five stocks we like better than Merck & Co., Inc. - Beyond Big Tech: 3 Non-Tech Earnings Winners to Watch - 3 Contrarian Trades for a Market That Looks Too Hot - The Bull Case for D-Wave After a Disappointing Earnings Season - Visa Just Put Hims & Hers in the Penalty Box—Here’s Why It Matters *This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.* Continue following MarketBeat Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed. Add As Preferred Source ## Should You Invest $1,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. Right Now? Before you consider Merck & Co., Inc., you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Merck & Co., Inc. wasn't on the list. While Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. 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