BMO Capital Markets Moved Merck To $64, Last Friday -- From $62

I suspect that BMO is now more sanguine about a good strong mega blockbuster showing (i.e., $3 billion to $4 billion a year), beginning two years from now -- over those next three years, from Keytruda^®.

A bit then:

. . . .Merck had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $62.00 to $64.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Shares of Merck & Co. opened at 61.05 on Friday. Merck & Co. has a 52-week low of $44.62 and a 52-week high of $61.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.4 and a 200-day moving average of $57.42. The company has a market cap of $176.1 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23. Merck & Co. also was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,776,659 shares, a decrease of 17.1% from the July 31st total of 33,501,461 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,604,040 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. . . .

So it goes -- and falling short interest is a bullish sign. . . but I'd bet BMS will handily outpace Merck in immuno-oncology sales, over the next three to five years. And because BMS is smaller than Merck, that sales ramp will show itself, in a more pronounced fashion, in BMS's stock price. Just my $0.02.