Citi Moved Merck Up — To “Buy”; Now At ~$115.

Citi had long been a Merck skeptic. That state of affairs lasted from at least 2009 through late last year.

I guess it is better to be late to the party. . . than never to arrive, at all. Here is MarketWatch on it all:

. . .Citi Research turned bullish on the drug maker, citing “materially revised forecasts” for cancer treatment MK-2870/SKB-264. Baum raised his rating to buy, after being at neutral since November 2021, and lifted his stock price target by 23.8%, to $130 from $105.

“Today’s report highlights positive recent evolution of MRK’s recent R&D and business development, in particular Merck’s recently licensed range of ADC [antibody-drug conjugates] from Kelun, most notably MK-2870/SKB-264 for breast, lung and multiple other solid tumors; and. . . for sotatercept in PAH [pulmonary arterial hypertension],” Baum wrote in a note to clients. . . .

Indeed, now you know. . . and this may serve to effectively "smooth out" any bumpiness from the Zetia antitrust trial starting in Virginia next week.

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