Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Set to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is set to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to post earnings of $2.12 per share for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2024 guidance at 8.440-8.590 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $8.44 to $8.59 EPS.Parties that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $10 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $125.36 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.76. The firm has a market cap of $317.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 895.43, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,200.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $841,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $235,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.