Market Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Sanofi Pasteur and Merck (Known as MSD Outside the United States and Canada) Announce Intent to End Joint Vaccines Operations in Europe, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, to Pursue Their Own Distinct Growth Strategies

[Business Wire] – Sanofi Pasteur and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced their intent to end their joint vaccines operations in Europe. Upon concluding their joint venture, both companies plan to integrate their respective European vaccine businesses into their operations, independently manage their product portfolios and pursue their own distinct growth strategies in Europe. Read more on this. Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) , valued at $147.71B, opened this morning at $52.36. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $52.29 to $52.89 and has traded between $45.69 and $61.70 over the past 12 months. MRK shares are currently priced at 14.23x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s -3.67x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $1.84 per share in dividend income per year, for a current yield of 3.53%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 16 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.85 per share, which would be $0.00 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential increase. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $3.70, which would be a $0.11 better when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $9.46 Billion. If realized, that would be a 0.42% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, BofA/Merrill downgraded MRK from Buy to Neutral (Jan 27, 2016). Previously, Berenberg Initiated MRK at to Hold. When considering if the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $60.63, which is 15.79% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:MRK) Similar Articles: Market Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Merck’s Investigational Once-Daily Formulation of ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) Meets Primary and Secondary Endpoints in Pivotal Phase 3 Study Stock Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Merck Announces FDA Acceptance of Biologics License Application for Bezlotoxumab, an Investigational Antitoxin for Prevention of Clostridium Difficile Infection Recurrence Market Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Results of Phase 2 Study of Merck’s Investigational Beta-Lactamase Inhibitor Relebactam Presented at ICAAC/ICC 2015