Centurion Wealth Management LLC Sells 630 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centurion Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,385 shares of the company’s stock after selling 630 shares during the quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $730,000. Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,787,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 37,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.0 %

MRK stock opened at $94.72 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $239.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.