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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 0.81 per share on Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%.

Merck & Co., Inc. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Merck & Co., Inc. has a dividend payout ratio of 33.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to earn $9.90 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 32.7%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.50 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.05. The company has a market capitalization of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,278 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three 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 a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.