Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,864,505 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,905,121 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.23% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $583,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.5%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $77.64. The company had a trading volume of 4,681,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,111,191. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.82 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $194.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.