Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Set to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to post earnings of $2.12 per share for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2024 guidance at 8.440-8.590 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $8.44 to $8.59 EPS.Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $10 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $126.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 906.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.