Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Stock Forecast, Price & News

23 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. in the last twelve months. There are currently 7 hold ratings and 16 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "buy" MRK shares.
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23 brokers have issued 1-year price targets 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 stock price to reach $120.75 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 7.3% from the stock's current price.
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Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock was trading at $110.95 at the start of the year. Since then, MRK shares have increased by 1.4% and is now trading at $112.52.
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The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, July 27th 2023.
View our MRK earnings forecast.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April, 27th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company earned $14.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.81 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 22.52% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 37.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.14 EPS.
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Merck & Co., Inc. announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share on Monday, July 10th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th.
Read our dividend analysis for MRK.

ETFs with the largest weight of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stock in their portfolio include iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE), Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO), First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals ETF (FTXH), Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV), Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP), VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH), iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH) 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 2.64%. 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 57.03%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, MRK will have a dividend payout ratio of 34.52% 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, April, 27th. The company provided EPS guidance of $6.88-$7.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $6.91. The company issued revenue guidance of $57.70 billion-$58.90 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $58.28 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 investors include BlackRock Inc. (8.24%), State Street Corp (4.59%), Wellington Management Group LLP (2.70%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.02%), FMR LLC (1.41%) and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (1.21%). 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 and Steven Mizell.
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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 $112.52.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has a market capitalization of $285.51 billion and generates $57.87 billion in revenue each year. The company earns $14.52 billion in net income (profit) each year or $5.12 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.