Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 100,380 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,610 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after buying an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.4% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,540,000 after purchasing an additional 14,780 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.84. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.93 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.