Merck Announces Increased Quarterly Dividend and $10 Billion Share Repurchase Authorization
November 28 2017 - 2:33PM
Business Wire
Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and
Canada, today announced that the Board of Directors has increased
the company’s quarterly dividend to $0.48 per outstanding share of
the company’s common stock, up $0.01 from $0.47 per outstanding
share paid last quarter. Payment will be made on Jan. 8, 2018, to
stockholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 15, 2017.
The Board also authorized an additional $10 billion of treasury
stock purchases with no time limit for completion.
“Our strong balance sheet, consistent performance and the
strength of our underlying business allow us to increase the
dividend and authorize additional opportunistic share
repurchases,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief
executive officer, Merck. “Today’s actions reflect confidence in
our ability to continue to invent and deliver differentiated
medicines and vaccines, and our commitment to return value to
shareholders.”
Merck last announced a dividend increase in November 2016, when
the Board raised the dividend from $0.46 to $0.47 per common
share.
About Merck
For more than a century, Merck, a leading global
biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of the United States
and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines
and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases.
Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies
and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in
more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We
also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care
through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today,
Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the
prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and
communities around the world - including cancer, cardio-metabolic
diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and
infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information,
visit www.merck.com and connect with us
on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J.,
USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or
uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially
from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors,
including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care
legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends
toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new
products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent
in new product development, including obtaining regulatory
approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market
conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial
instability of international economies and sovereign risk;
dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other
protections for innovative products; and the exposure to
litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory
actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2016
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s
Internet site (www.sec.gov).
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171128006326/en/
MerckMedia:Tracy Ogden, 908-740-1747Claire Gillespie,
267-305-0932orInvestors:Teri Loxam, 908-740-1986Amy Klug,
908-740-1898
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