Merck & Company, Inc. (MRK) Ex-Dividend Date Scheduled for December 13, 2012

By NASDAQ.com News,  December 11, 2012, 09:00:05 AM EDT

Merck & Company, Inc. ( MRK ) has announced an ex-dividend date of December 13, 2012 and a cash dividend payment of $0.43 per share scheduled for January 08, 2013. Shareholders who purchased MRK stock prior to the ex-dividend date are eligible for the cash dividend payment. This represents an 2.38% increase over the prior quarter. At the current stock price of $44.48, the dividend yield is 3.87%.

The previous trading day's last sale of MRK was $44.48, representing a -7.33% decrease from the 52 week high of $48 and a 27.6% increase over the 52 week low of $34.86.

MRK is a part of the Consumer Durables sector, which includes companies such as Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) and Pfizer, Inc. ( PFE ). MRK's current earnings per share, an indicator of a company's profitability, is $2.19. Zacks Investment Research reports MRK's forecasted earnings growth in 2012 as .53%, compared to an industry average of .2%.

For more information on the declaration, record and payment dates, visit the MRK Dividend History page.

Interested in gaining exposure to MRK through an Exchange Traded Fund [ETF]?
The following ETF(s) have MRK as a top-10 holding:

  • Select Sector SPDR Fund - Health Care ( XLV )
  • iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceutical Index Fund ( IHE )
  • iShares Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index Fund ( IYH )
  • PowerShares Fundamental Pure Large Growth Portfolio ( PXLG )
  • Merrill Lynch Pharmaceutical HOLDRS ( PPH ).

The top-performing ETF of this group is PXLG with an increase of 6.9% over the last 100 days. XLV has the highest percent weighting of MRK at 8.93%.




The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.


This article appears in: News Headlines, Stocks

Referenced Stocks: IHE, IYH, JNJ, MRK, PFE, PPH, PXLG, XLV



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