Cantor Fitzgerald Weighs in on Merck & Co., Inc.'s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a note issued to investors on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst L. Chen now forecasts that the company will earn $8.53 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.44. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.'s current full-year earnings is $8.63 per share.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.10 on Monday, hitting $130.10. 6,829,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,318,161. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $329.55 billion, a PE ratio of 144.56, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company's stock worth $342,814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,211 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company's stock worth $262,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.