OLD Republic International Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OLD Republic International Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 613,600 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.1% of OLD Republic International Corp's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. OLD Republic International Corp's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $55,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373 shares during the last quarter. United Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 23,666 shares of the company's stock worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 97,982 shares of the company's stock worth $9,747,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $65,142,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $82.18. 3,458,697 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,255,696. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $206.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% 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.