Merck (MRK) Stock Gaining, Cutting Research Jobs

Merck (MRK) announced that it would be laying off research and development employees at three east-coast sites.
By Rachel Aldrich ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Merck (MRK) - Get Report  are trading up 0.59% to $59.69 today after the company announced it would be cutting less than 10% of its discovery, pre-clinical and early development jobs in three east-coast locations: Kenilworth, NJ, Rahway, NJ and North Wales, PA, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This move follows previous rounds of R&D layoffs for the Kenilworth, NJ-based drug company.

A spokesperson for Merck said that the company is hoping to gain "earlier access to emerging external science and technology to augment our leading discovery and development capabilities."

Merck is also planning to open new laboratories in Cambridge, MA and San Francisco.

The company hopes to plug into growing biotechnology start-up activity and academic research.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance.

TheStreet Ratings feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: MRK

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

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