Why Is Merck (MRK) Stock Up Today?

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  • Merck (MRK) stock got a boost from Food and Drug Administration (FDA) news.
  • That has to do with its most recent Keytruda application.
  • The stock also got an analyst upgrade today.
MRK Stock - Why Is Merck (MRK) Stock Up Today?

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Merck (NYSE:MRK) stock is on the move Thursday after the pharmaceutical company got an update from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning Keytruda.

Keytruda is Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy. The latest update has the FDA accepting a new supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Keytruda. Specifically, it covers the use of the treatment in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Dr. Scot Ebbinghaus, vice president of global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, said the following about the news:

“We are committed to working closely with the FDA to bring KEYTRUDA to more patients with gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer who are in need of additional treatment options that may help them live longer.”

This isn’t the only recent Merck news traders need to know about on Thursday!

MRK Stock Upgrade

Analysts at Citi also upgraded shares of MRK stock today. This bumped the stock up from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. For comparison, the analysts’ consensus rating is “moderate buy” based on 22 opinions.

To go along with that, Citigroup also increased its price target for MRK stock from $105 per share to $130 per share. That represents a potential upside of 14.3% from yesterday’s close. It’s also above the analysts’ consensus price target of $120.65 per share.

MRK stock is up slightly as of Thursday morning.

There’s more stock market news worth reading about below!

We’ve got all of that ready for hungry traders today! Among that is why shares of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI), and Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) stock moving today. You can catch up on all of that at the following links!

More Thursday Stock Market News

On the date of publication, William White did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


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