Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13, Briefing.com reports. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.530-8.650 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $8.53-8.65 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.19. The company had a trading volume of 7,757,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,336,532. The stock has a market cap of $332.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 937.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.33.

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

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

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.