Radnor Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Radnor Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 507,498 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,268 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 7.6% of Radnor Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $78.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.96. The company has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.