Donaldson Capital Management LLC Purchases 6,027 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 475,778 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,027 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.6% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $42,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.32 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $204.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.64. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.