This post was originally published on this site
Merck & Company, Inc., d.b.a. Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the United States and Canada, is an American pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Igor Golovniov | LightRocket | Getty Images
Atlantic Equities upgraded its rating on shares of Merck to overweight on Monday, saying that the company is “the best positioned” to grow among large pharmaceutical companies that the firm believes are protected from the trade war between the U.S. and China.
“Amid oversold conditions in a sector we believe can provide a source of defensive growth that is insulated from trade-related volatility and a recent pullback in the shares, we upgrade MRK to overweight,” Atlantic analyst Steve Chesney said in a note to investors.
“We see the majority of growth coming from additional indications for already approved oncology products Keytruda, Lynparza and Lenvima,” Chesney said of Merck.
Merck shares slid 0.2% in premarket trading from Friday’s close of $78.19. S&P 500 futures were down nearly 2% on Monday. Atlantic Equities has an $87 a share price target on Merck.
