Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 15th

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share on Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th.

Merck & Co., Inc. has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year 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 35.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Merck & Co., Inc. to earn $9.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.8%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $120.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $297.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.17. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $125.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $16.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.040-5.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 254,322,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,770,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,853 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 120,040,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,737,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,990 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,435,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,098,196,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,047,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,307,572,000 after purchasing an additional 249,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DLD Asset Management LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. DLD Asset Management LP now owns 47,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.