Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position 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. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 16,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 11,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% in 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 holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $99.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $250.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.