Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Plans $0.77 Quarterly Dividend

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.77 per share on Monday, October 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th.

Merck & Co., Inc. has raised its dividend by an average of 6.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Merck & Co., Inc. has a dividend payout ratio of 31.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to earn $9.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.92. The stock had a trading volume of 6,279,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,295,311. The business’s 50 day moving average is $128.46 and its 200 day moving average is $126.46. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $318.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.07, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.36.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.