FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Issued By Cantor Fitzgerald

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) – Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report released on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst L. Chen now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $8.53 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $8.44. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Merck & Co., Inc.’s current full-year earnings is $8.63 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $131.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.