Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Releases FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 8.870-8.970 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 8.903. The company issued revenue guidance of $64.3 billion-$65.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $65.0 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $81.91 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $120.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.37 and a 200-day moving average of $84.96. The firm has a market cap of $205.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,278 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.