FY2025 Earnings Estimate for MRK Issued By Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Gould now expects that the company will post earnings of $8.88 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $9.01. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Neutral" rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.'s current full-year earnings is $9.01 per share.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $83.14. 11,754,543 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,026,928. The company has a market cap of $209.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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 one year low of $75.93 and a one year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CGN Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. TI Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company's stock worth $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company's stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.