Donaldson Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 475,778 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,027 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.6% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $42,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,477,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,546,000 after buying an additional 189,540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $81.32 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.88 and a 200 day moving average of $89.64. The company has a market capitalization of $204.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.