Centric Wealth Management Buys 379 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,828 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $558,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $206,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,410,000 after purchasing an additional 13,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 619,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,330,000 after buying an additional 26,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $103.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.85 and its 200-day moving average is $117.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS 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. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

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.