Merck & Co., Inc. - MRK Stock Forecast, Price & News

20 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. in the last twelve months. There are currently 5 hold ratings and 15 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "buy" MRK shares.
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20 Wall Street analysts have issued 1 year target prices for Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock. Their MRK share price forecasts range from $98.00 to $135.00. On average, they anticipate the company's share price to reach $119.35 in the next twelve months. This suggests a possible upside of 14.7% from the stock's current price.
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Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock was trading at $110.95 at the beginning of 2023. Since then, MRK stock has decreased by 6.2% and is now trading at $104.02.
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The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, April 27th 2023.
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Merck & Co., Inc. will be holding an earnings conference call on Thursday, April 27th at 9:00 AM Eastern. Interested parties can register for or listen to the call using this link.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued its earnings results on Thursday, February, 2nd. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The firm earned $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 43.47%. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS.
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Merck & Co., Inc. declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share on Monday, April 10th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th.
Read our dividend analysis for MRK.

ETFs with the largest weight of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stock in their portfolio include First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals ETF (FTXH), VanEck Durable High Dividend ETF (DURA), Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV), Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP), iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH), VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH), IQ Healthy Hearts ETF (HART) and Absolute Select Value ETF (ABEQ).

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.76%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 12 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 51.14%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, MRK will have a dividend payout ratio of 33.99% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for MRK.

Merck & Co., Inc. updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Thursday, February, 2nd. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.80-$6.95 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.36. The company issued revenue guidance of $57.20 billion-$58.70 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $58.07 billion.

1,343 employees have rated Merck & Co., Inc. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth C. Frazier on Glassdoor.com. Kenneth C. Frazier has an approval rating of 94% among the company's employees. This puts Kenneth C. Frazier in the top 30% of approval ratings compared to other CEOs of publicly-traded companies.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Merck & Co., Inc. investors own include Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AT&T (T), Intel (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Walt Disney (DIS), Verizon Communications (VZ), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), AbbVie (ABBV) and Home Depot (HD).

Merck & Co., Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "MRK."

Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock is owned by many different institutional and retail investors. Top institutional shareholders include Geode Capital Management LLC (1.91%), Morgan Stanley (1.65%), Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC (1.55%), Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (1.18%), Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD (1.04%) and Norges Bank (0.97%). Insiders that own company stock include Caroline Litchfield, Frank Clyburn, Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen, Joseph Romanelli, Julie L Gerberding, Kenneth C Frazier, Richard R Deluca, Rita A Karachun, Robert M Davis, Sanat Chattopadhyay, Steven Mizell and Wendell P Weeks.
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Shares of MRK stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
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One share of MRK stock can currently be purchased for approximately $104.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has a market capitalization of $264.06 billion and generates $59.28 billion in revenue each year. The company earns $14.52 billion in net income (profit) each year or $5.71 on an earnings per share basis.

The company employs 69,000 workers across the globe.

Merck & Co., Inc.'s mailing address is 2000 GALLOPING HILL ROAD, KENILWORTH NJ, 07033. The official website for the company is www.merck.com. The company can be reached via phone at (908) 740-4000, via email at investor_relations@merck.com, or via fax at 908-735-1253.