Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Announces $0.81 Quarterly Dividend

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.81 per share on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%.

Merck & Co., Inc. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Merck & Co., Inc. has a dividend payout ratio of 32.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.85 and a 200-day moving average of $108.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Barclays decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.