FY2025 Earnings Estimate for MRK Issued By Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) – Research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2025 EPS estimates for Merck & Co., Inc. in a report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst L. Chen forecasts that the company will post earnings of $9.55 per share for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.’s current full-year earnings is $7.70 per share.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MRK. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS.

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

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. State Street Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after buying an additional 1,536,474 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.