Merck price target lowered to $96 from $105 at BMO Capital

BMO Capital lowered the firm’s price target on Merck (MRK) to $96 from $105 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares after its below-consensus outlook. The company’s shares have been most impacted by a feeling of lost confidence after a series of changing expectations for an otherwise consistent product, the analyst tells investors in a research note. There is potential for management to break out of this, but it will require consistent achievement of long- and short-term guides and some sentiment changing events like approval of celsrovimab / fast uptake and additional GLP-1 data, BMO added.