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

$101.38 -0.47 (-0.46%)

(As of 12/4/2024 ET)

Merck & Co., Inc. - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2025)

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 20 Analyst Ratings

Sell
1

Hold
6

Buy
13

Based on 20 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 20 analysts, 1 has given a sell rating, 6 have given a hold rating, 11 have given a buy rating, and 2 have given a strong buy rating for MRK.

Consensus Price Target

$130.80
29.02% Upside

According to the 20 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Merck & Co., Inc., the average price target is $130.80. The highest price target for MRK is $155.00, while the lowest price target for MRK is $104.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 29.02% from the current price of $101.38.

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MRK Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 12/5/23 to 12/4/24	1 Month Ago 11/5/23 to 11/4/24	3 Months Ago 9/6/23 to 9/5/24	1 Year Ago 12/5/22 to 12/5/23
Strong Buy	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	11 Buy rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)
Hold	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)
Sell	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$130.80	$129.93	$134.58	$125.14
Forecasted Upside	29.02% Upside	27.54% Upside	13.49% Upside	17.80% Upside
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy

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MRK Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

MRK Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock vs. The Competition

Type	Merck & Co., Inc.	Medical Companies	S&P 500
Consensus Rating Score	2.70	2.80	2.50
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	28.46% Upside	26,681.79% Upside	7.78% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent MRK News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

Export to Excel

Date	Brokerage	Analyst Name	Action	Rating	Price Target	Upside/Downside on Report Date
12/4/2024	HSBC 2 of 5 stars		Upgrade	Hold ➝ Buy	$130.00	+27.65%
11/15/2024	Wolfe Research 3 of 5 stars	T. Anderson Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Peer Perform
11/11/2024	Daiwa America 0 of 5 stars	N. Nakagiri Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Strong-Buy ➝ Hold
11/11/2024	Daiwa Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Buy ➝ Neutral
11/7/2024	Truist Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$132.00 ➝ $130.00	+28.29%
11/6/2024	Guggenheim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$137.00 ➝ $130.00	+28.14%
Get the Latest News and Ratings for MRK and Related Stocks Enter your email address below to receive the latest news and analysts' ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
11/1/2024	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$125.00 ➝ $110.00	+7.78%
11/1/2024	BMO Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$150.00 ➝ $136.00	+32.59%
11/1/2024	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$130.00 ➝ $123.00	+19.70%
10/25/2024	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$140.00 ➝ $130.00	+24.24%
10/17/2024	Sanford C. Bernstein Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	C. Breen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Market Perform	$115.00	+4.14%
10/9/2024	UBS Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$142.00 ➝ $136.00	+23.32%
10/7/2024	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Overweight ➝ Overweight	$142.00 ➝ $140.00	+28.83%
10/3/2024	Cantor Fitzgerald Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Overweight ➝ Overweight	$155.00 ➝ $155.00	+39.53%
7/31/2024	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$150.00 ➝ $145.00	+29.13%
7/30/2024	Evercore ISI Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	U. Raffat Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Strong-Buy
6/5/2024	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	J. Hellweg Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Strong-Buy
4/8/2024	Berenberg Bank Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$140.00 ➝ $143.00	+11.73%
3/11/2024	Societe Generale Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Hold ➝ Sell	$104.00	-15.33%
1/4/2024	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Market Perform ➝ Outperform	$125.00 ➝ $135.00	+17.63%
11/9/2023	Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Buy	$115.00	+10.15%
4/16/2023	BTIG Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Buy ➝ Neutral
4/10/2023	Mizuho Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Mara Goldstein Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$130.00	+15.44%
3/7/2023	Atlantic Securities Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Overweight	$122.00 ➝ $127.00	+14.14%
3/7/2023	Credit Suisse Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Outperform	$125.00 ➝ $126.00	+13.24%
3/6/2023	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Buy	$125.00	+16.95%
2/23/2023	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Overweight	$120.00 ➝ $125.00	+13.08%
2/3/2023	Leerink Partners Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Outperform	$120.00 ➝ $122.00	+17.92%
1/3/2023	Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target		$108.00 ➝ $120.00	+8.16%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Wednesday at 07:07 PM ET.

Should I Buy Merck & Co., Inc. Stock? MRK Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Sunday, December 1, 2024. Please send any questions or comments about these Merck & Co., Inc. pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Merck & Co., Inc.
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Merck:

Merck recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.50, indicating strong financial performance.
The company has a solid market capitalization of approximately $260.86 billion, reflecting its stability and growth potential in the pharmaceutical sector.
Merck has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.81, representing a 3.14% dividend yield, which is attractive for income-focused investors.
Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Merck, with an average price target of $130.86, suggesting potential for price appreciation.
Merck's recent revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter shows a 4.4% increase compared to the same period last year, indicating robust demand for its products.

Merck & Co., Inc.
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in Merck for these reasons:

Merck's stock has experienced a decline from its 1-year high of $134.63, which may indicate volatility and potential challenges ahead.
Several analysts have downgraded their ratings and price targets for Merck, reflecting concerns about future growth prospects.
The company's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79 suggests a moderate level of debt, which could impact financial flexibility in adverse market conditions.
Merck's P/E ratio of 21.62 is relatively high, which may indicate that the stock is overvalued compared to its earnings, posing a risk for new investors.
With 76.07% of the stock owned by institutional investors, there may be less room for retail investors to influence stock performance.

MRK Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

: According to the research reports of 20 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Merck & Co., Inc. is $130.80, with a high forecast of $155.00 and a low forecast of $104.00.
: 20 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. in the last twelve months. There is currently 1 sell rating, 6 hold ratings, 11 buy ratings and 2 strong buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" MRK shares.
: According to analysts, Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock has a predicted upside of 29.02% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.
: Over the previous 90 days, Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock had 2 downgrades and 1 upgrade by analysts.
: Merck & Co., Inc. has been rated by research analysts at Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, Cantor Fitzgerald, Citigroup, Daiwa America, Daiwa Capital Markets, Guggenheim, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Sanford C. Bernstein, Truist Financial, UBS Group, Wells Fargo & Company, and Wolfe Research in the past 90 days.
: Analysts like Merck & Co., Inc. less than other "medical" companies. The consensus rating score for Merck & Co., Inc. is 2.70 while the average consensus rating score for "medical" companies is 2.80. Learn more on how MRK compares to other companies.

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This page (NYSE:MRK) was last updated on 12/4/2024 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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