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

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 469,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,182 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.8% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $46,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 147,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,713,000 after buying an additional 16,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.0% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 12,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $95.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.40. The company has a market cap of $240.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.