Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 8.530-8.650 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 8.560. The company issued revenue guidance of $63.1 billion-$64.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $63.8 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY24 guidance to $8.53-8.65 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

MRK stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.20. 7,758,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,512,518. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $126.41 and its 200-day moving average is $115.88.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.