FY2025 EPS Forecast for Merck & Co., Inc. Reduced by Analyst

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note issued on Monday, October 13th. Leerink Partnrs analyst D. Graybosch now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $8.79 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $8.96. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.’s current full-year earnings is $9.01 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.’s Q2 2026 earnings at $2.10 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.16 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $9.87 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $10.36 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $84.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $111.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.44. The company has a market capitalization of $210.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.