Radnor Capital Management LLC Has $45.55 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Radnor Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 507,498 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,268 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 7.6% of Radnor Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Radnor Capital Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Napatree Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock worth $4,482,000 after acquiring an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company's stock worth $62,907,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MRK traded up $1.33 on Friday, reaching $78.95. The stock had a trading volume of 9,845,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,699,912. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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.