Cetera Investment Advisers sells 28,269 Merck & Co., Inc. shares. (NYSE:MRK)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 737,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,269 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $91,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in the shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter, amounting to approximately $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s shares.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus Raised Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wolfe Research updated Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58, according to MarketBeat.com.

Check out our latest stock report on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price performance

MRK opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $287.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.18, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.46 and a two hundred day simple moving average of $123.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue increased by 7.1% year-on-year. During the same period last year, the company posted EPS of ($2.06). Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16. This represents an annualized dividend of $3.08 and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc. Payout Rate it is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a global healthcare company. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceuticals and Animal Health. The pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the fields of oncology, acute hospital care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular and diabetes under the brands Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi and Januvia, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive vaccines for children, adolescents and adults under the names Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, MMR II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23 and Vaqta.

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