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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 8.880-9.030 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 9.230. The company issued revenue guidance of $64.1 billion-$65.6 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $67.4 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY25 guidance to $8.88 to $9.03 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.89 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.85. 3,270,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,460,736. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.58 and its 200 day moving average is $107.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.33 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.