FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Issued By Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald increased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst L. Chen now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $8.53 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $8.44. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.’s current full-year earnings is $8.63 per share.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on MRK. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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 target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $131.20 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.