JasonDoiy
Mizuho spotlighted Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) and a handful of other health care services stocks as “top picks." EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (EYPT), Cytokinetics (CYTK), Alkermes (ALKS), GE Healthcare (GEHC) and Universal Health Services (UHS) also received attention from the Tokyo-headquartered bank.
The firm views MRK as a Buy and tagged the drug maker with a target price of $130.00. For reference, MRK currently trades at $103.38, indicating roughly a 25% move higher if $130.00 is reached.
“The visibility on MRK’s ability to diversify its revenue base and dilute KEYTRUDA’s overall contribution has greatly improved over the past year with multiple opportunities across therapeutic areas now in evidence,” Mizuho noted.
“While KEYTRUDA is still an active growth and cash flow driver for the company, it could be joined by candidates in cardiovascular, inflammation, metabolic and vaccines, as well as other oncology products, that have the ability to lessen revenue pressure from potential patent expiry and pricing pressures on KEYTRUDA later in the decade,” the bank added.
Looking to the other Buy ratings, see below the price targets Mizuho placed on the names:
- EYPT: Current Price - $7.24, Target Price - $20.00
- CYTK: Current Price - $35.10, Target Price - $80.00
- ALKS: Current Price - $25.54, Target Price - $35.00
- GEHC: Current Price - $68.28, Target Price - $94.00
- UHS: Current Price - $125.39, Target Price - $170.00
Year-to-date performance: MRK -6.9%, EYPT +112.3%, CYTK -18.1%, ALKS -4.2%, GEHC +27.8%, and UHS -10.1%.
Furthermore, see how the above six names have fared over a 3-year time horizon as seen in this Seeking Alpha chart:
