Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Radnor Capital Management LLC’s Largest Position

Radnor Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 593,928 shares of the company’s stock after selling 710 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 16.1% of Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $65,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 224,134,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,302,459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081,402 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,079,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,468,037,000 after buying an additional 1,077,042 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,949,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,730,513,000 after buying an additional 214,082 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,349,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,608,000 after buying an additional 7,816,470 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,026,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,552,347,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $104.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $78.63 and a one year high of $115.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The firm had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 51.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,555. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,134.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Atlantic Securities upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $127.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Cowen upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $108.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, SVB Leerink boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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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.