Donaldson Capital Management LLC Sells 8,773 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,081 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,773 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.3% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $51,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Kennedy Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company's stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $599,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.0% during the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 57,526 shares of the company's stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $142.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $126.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,238,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,416,202. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $126.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $319.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.