Leerink Partnrs Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a report issued on Saturday, April 20th. Leerink Partnrs analyst D. Graybosch now forecasts that the company will earn $2.39 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.37. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.'s current full-year earnings is $8.59 per share.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MRK. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK remained flat at $126.94 on Tuesday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,743,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,302,824. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.54 billion, a PE ratio of 906.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $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.