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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’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 %

MRK stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.20. The stock had a trading volume of 7,756,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,336,529. The firm has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 937.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. 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. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.