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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 8.530-8.650 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $3.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $130.71. 12,747,423 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,343,713. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 933.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’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 value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly 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 currently owned by company 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.