Zacks Research Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for MRK

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a report issued on Thursday, November 21st. Zacks Research analyst S. Ganoria now expects that the company will post earnings of $1.82 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.93. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.'s current full-year earnings is $7.73 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.'s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.42 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.43 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.16 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.34 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.62 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $2.65 EPS.

MRK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of MRK traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $101.19. The stock had a trading volume of 34,657,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,131,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.54.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 324,981 shares of the company's stock worth $36,905,000 after purchasing an additional 26,449 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 289,298 shares of the company's stock worth $32,853,000 after acquiring an additional 55,048 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,566,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, Destination Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 209,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,780,000 after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.