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

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock worth $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth 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 period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $933,761,000 after acquiring an additional 422,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,374,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,895,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $208.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $87.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.93 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.