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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 7.940-8.040 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 8.160. The company issued revenue guidance of $63.4 billion-$64.4 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $64.3 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY24 guidance to $7.94-$8.04 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

MRK traded up $0.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.82. The company had a trading volume of 14,027,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,620,772. The stock has a market cap of $288.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.47, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $134.58.

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.