Zacks Research Equities Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research boosted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 15th. Zacks Research analyst S. Ganoria now anticipates that the company will earn $8.62 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.50. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.'s current full-year earnings is $8.69 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Merck & Co., Inc.'s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.39 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.56 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.38 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.71 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.52 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MRK. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $104.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank upped 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 note on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "b+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $130.89. 5,518,149 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,099,227. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a market capitalization of $331.52 billion, a PE ratio of 145.43, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $126.98 and its 200-day moving average is $118.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 worth $8,487,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196,914 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company's stock worth $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% 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.