Centric Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Centric Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,596 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the quarter. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Little House Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% during the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares during the period. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $97.78 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $105.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.22. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%.The firm had revenue of $17.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.930-8.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.88.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.