Centaurus Financial Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 38,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,767,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the third quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 16,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 11,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 17,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 28,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $99.18 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.