Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.81 on April 7th

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.81 per share on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

Merck & Co., Inc. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Merck & Co., Inc. has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to earn $9.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.23 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.