JPMorgan Raises Merck Price Target to $165 on Positive Outlook

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its price target for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) from $150.00 to $165.00, suggesting an 18.04% upside from the company's previous close. The firm maintained an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on Merck recently. Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "buy" to "hold", while Royal Bank of Canada shifted its rating from "outperform" to "sector perform" but increased its target price from $142.00 to $150.00. Leerink Partners boosted their target to $161.00 with an "outperform" rating, and Jefferies Financial Group raised theirs to $175.00 with a "buy" rating.

Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $146.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.88 billion and traded down 3.1% on Monday, closing at $139.79. The company reported better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter, with revenue of $16.61 billion and EPS of ($0.13), beating estimates.

Insider activity has also been notable, with EVP David Williams and EVP Richard R. Deluca selling significant shares of the company's stock in recent transactions. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.