Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 266,606 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,754 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.74. 3,073,020 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,744,896. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.88 and its 200-day moving average is $89.64.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.