Analysts downgrade Merrill Lynch stock

Analysts downgraded Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.'s stock today, after the company announced last week that it would take $4.5 billion in writedowns due to turmoil in the credit markets, according to published reports. Last week, Merrill also predicted a net loss of 50 cents per diluted share, noting that the fixed income, currencies and commodities businesses will likely take the greatest hit from the from the subprime-mortgage crisis. JPMorgan Chase analyst Kenneth B. Worthington downgraded Merrill's stock to "neutral" from ''overweight.'' Merrill expanded too rapidly and with an unchecked appetite for risk, he said, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse analyst Susan Roth Katzke also downgraded Merrill Lynch, to "neutral" from "outperform," according to the AP. Last week, Meredith Whitney, an analyst with CIBC, trimmed Merrill’s profit estimate to 97 cents per share, down from $2.00 (InvestmentNews, October 5) . Shares of Merrill were down nearly $2.05, or 2.7%, to $74.62 in morning trading.