Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Forecast for MRK Earnings

Key Points

• Leerink Partners has lowered its Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Merck & Co., Inc. to $2.29, down from a prior estimate of $2.36.
• Other analysts have also reduced their price targets for Merck, with Morgan Stanley setting a new target of $98.00, while Berenberg Bank cut their target to $90.00.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, which signifies a 3.8% dividend yield for stockholders.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a note issued to investors on Monday, October 13th. Leerink Partnrs analyst D. Graybosch now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $2.29 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.36. 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 Q4 2025 earnings at $2.16 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.11 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.59 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.05 EPS.

MRK has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $83.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $111.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.

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