[Reuters] – A preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of Merck & Co.’s experimental drug to treat the most common cause of health care-associated infectious diarrhea questioned whether the drug’s efficacy had been adequately demonstrated. The review, posted on the FDA’s website on Tuesday, comes two days ahead of a meeting of outside experts who will discuss the drug, bezlotoxumab, and recommend whether or not it should be approved. Read more on this. Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) , valued at $158.76B, started the session at $57.20. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $56.92 to $57.44 with a trailing 52-week range being $45.69 to $60.07. MRK shares are currently priced at 15.37x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s -0.21x earnings multiple for the same period. And for those looking to make a return holding the stock, the company pays shareholders $1.84 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.25%. According to a consensus of 16 analysts, the earnings estimate of $0.91 per share would be $0.05 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential increase. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $3.72, which would be a $0.13 better when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $9.79 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.10% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Societe Generale Initiated MRK at Buy (Apr 6, 2016). Previously, BofA/Merrill downgraded MRK from Buy to Neutral. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $61.55, which is 7.60% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:MRK) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Merck Receives FDA Approval of ZEPATIER™ (elbasvir and grazoprevir) for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 or 4 Infection in Adults Following Priority Review Stock Update: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) – Merck Announces FDA Acceptance of Biologics License Application for Bezlotoxumab, an Investigational Antitoxin for Prevention of Clostridium Difficile Infection Recurrence Stock Update (NYSE:MRK): Drug Manufacturers – Major Stocks on our Scanner – Pfizer, AbbVie, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson