Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 4,335 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Constitution Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Ossiam grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 118.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 215,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,912,000 after acquiring an additional 117,002 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MRK shares. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $125.54 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $130.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 896.71, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.27.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

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.