Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Releases FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Key Points

• Merck & Co., Inc. has updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance to an expected earnings per share of $8.870-$8.970 and revenue guidance of $64.3 billion-$65.3 billion.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for Merck, with a range of ratings from sell to strong buy, and the average price target currently sits at $108.69.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.85%.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 8.870-8.970 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 8.903. The company issued revenue guidance of $64.3 billion-$65.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $65.0 billion.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.5%

MRK stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.27. The company had a trading volume of 11,898,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,886,317. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The stock has a market cap of $199.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,278 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.