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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.72 EPS 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. Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE MRK opened at $99.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $99.83 and its 200-day moving average is $107.54. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $252.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. 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. Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.