Cantor Fitzgerald Comments on MRK FY2025 Earnings

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

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MRK. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.95 and a 200-day moving average of $109.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.37%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 51,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the second quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 6,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 26,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,330,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,584,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,922,000 after purchasing an additional 634,194 shares during the period. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.