Boston, MA 10/22/2013 (wallstreetpr) – After a seemingly good rally through last week, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) eventually succumbed to the volatility in the health care sector to close the week on Friday, October 18, down by 1.06% to settle at $46.61. The global health care company is now undergoing restructuring efforts to see if it can revitalize its performance in the increasingly volatile industry.
Among the restructuring efforts is the company’s increased focus in drug development. This means strengthening its research division and aiming more into key areas such as diabetes, vaccines, acute care and oncology. Also, the drug developer is in talks with other companies for acquisitions and license deals which might see it include drugs from outside to its list of drug inventory.
The much storied aspect of this ongoing restructuring is the job cuts. The company had earlier announced axing roughly 7,500 jobs. However, the company is also sending home another 8,500 of its employees from its research unit. In total, the restructuring process might see the global health care company left with just 80% of its present employee population which numbers roughly 81,000 people.
As much as job cuts may be painful for the employees, it makes good reading for the investors. It is reported that the company stands to save as much as $2.5 billion in its operating costs by fall of 2015. In fact, results might begin to come earlier than this; that by end of the next financial year, about $1 billion could be saved through the ongoing restructuring.
In what might be seen as positive sign in the company’s future especially as it now undertakes to get its house in order, TheStreet has recently reaffirmed its “buy” rating on the stock. This is a good and much needed confidence boost for the investors. Analysts now expect the health care company to enter $50.96 mark in price target.
