The Great Merck Buyback.. Dividend Too (MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) barely has its Schering-Plough deal behind it.  And today came the announcement of its dividend rate, but more importantly came word of a large share repurchase program.  The quarterly dividend for common stock is remaining at $0.38 per quarter, which gives a  yield of almost 4.20%.  It also declared a quarterly dividend of $3.75 per share on the company’s mandatory convertible preferred stock for the first quarter of 2010. But this buyback is what will excite most investors.

Merck’s Board of Directors approved a share buyback plan for up to $3 billion of common stock for its treasury. These share purchases will be made on the open market or in block transactions or in privately negotiated transactions.

Unfortunately, a down trading day and a recent huge merger isn’t enough to please many.  Trading floors and investors are also getting further and further away from caring about buying stocks ahead of Thanksgiving.

Merck shares late in the day are down 0.5% at $36.24 late in the day, and the 52-week trading range is $20.95 to $36.96.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 24, 2009