Certuity LLC Sells 1,978 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Certuity LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,579 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,978 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kerusso Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,926,000. Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 20,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Fiducient Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.6% in the second quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 233.3% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 549,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,012,000 after buying an additional 384,605 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 54,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,808,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $117.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $298.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.93, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.