Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13), Zacks reports. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $99.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $99.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.54. The company has a market capitalization of $252.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.