Centaurus Financial Inc. Buys 178 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,878 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 157,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,181,000 after acquiring an additional 4,069 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 14,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after acquiring an additional 8,467 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 375,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,884,000 after acquiring an additional 93,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $110.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $278.99 billion, a PE ratio of 122.39, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.06) EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MRK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.