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 Thursday morning. 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 traded up $3.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.71. The stock had a trading volume of 12,747,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,343,713. The firm has a market cap of $331.09 billion, a PE ratio of 933.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Societe Generale cut 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. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $131.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.