Leerink Swann Had Merck At $57 Since February 2014 -- Now. . . Target Is $60 (But CIti Targets Merck At $57)

Well, I think the overall message here -- as a consensus -- is that Merck is pretty nearly "fully valued".

As the headline indicates, Seamus Fernandez's firm has a new 12 month target of $60 on Whitehouse Station's common stock. That's up only five per cent from the last target -- and only a percent or two above today's NYSE opening price. Significantly, Citi has a 12 month target below today's price -- at $57, though that too was an increase, for Citi.

Last week, during the holiday lull, Barclays (the optimist of the bunch, at the moment!) set $61 as its new 12 month target. [Recall that Barclays inherited the Lehman Bros. analysts -- when the latter firm imploded in 2008.] Still not very much over the current NYSE MRK trading ranges. So it goes.

[BTW, I love that Matt Herper was able to pin Merck down -- on the record -- on the Italian Zetia MD ham-handing. Sometimes, at least, the little guys get. . . heard.]