Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 8.530-8.650 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 8.560. The company issued revenue guidance of $63.1 billion-$64.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $63.8 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY24 guidance to $8.53-8.65 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $131.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $133.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.