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Data last updated: Sep 01, 2026
Snapshot (as of Sep 01, 2026): Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) pays a $3.36 annual dividend ($0.85 quarterly), yielding 2.25% at $149.07/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-09-15. 21 consecutive years of dividend growth. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 2.25%
Annual Dividend: $3.36 per share
Payout Ratio: 261.5% (based on depressed trailing earnings — see safety analysis below)
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-09-15
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Healthcare
Years of Dividend History: 57
Merck & Co., Inc. dividend income comes from one of the oldest names in global pharmaceuticals, a company spanning human medicines across oncology, virology, and cardiovascular care, plus a dedicated Animal Health division. MRK currently pays a 2.27% dividend yield, with a trailing annual rate of $3.36 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is September 15, 2026. With a beta of 0.211, MRK stock moves far less than the broader market, which appeals to income investors who prioritize low volatility over high yield.
Merck & Co., Inc. pays out 261.5% of earnings as dividends, a payout ratio classified as high (above 75%). That figure is elevated well beyond typical thresholds, though MRK operates across broad therapeutic categories including oncology, vaccines, and Animal Health, all of which serve recurring demand from hospitals, pharmacies, and government agencies. Merck & Co., Inc. dividend safety is the central question here, and the payout ratio signals that current earnings alone do not cover the dividend, making the payout dependent on earnings recovery or other financial resources.
Merck & Co., Inc. dividend history shows a CAGR of 5.5% per year from 2011 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $1.56 to $3.28 over that window (2026 data is partial and excluded from this calculation). The smallest annual increase in the window was 2.2% in 2016, while the largest reached 13.6% in 2019, showing that the pace of growth has varied meaningfully from year to year.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +5.4% | $2.80 (2022) | $3.28 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +5.8% | $2.48 (2020) | $3.28 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +6.1% | $1.81 (2015) | $3.28 (2025) |
Merck & Co., Inc. fits dividend investors who want moderate, growing income from a large, diversified healthcare business with low price volatility. The yield sits at a moderate (2-4%) 2.27%, which is above MRK's own 5-year average of 2.0%, so buyers today are getting a slightly better entry yield than the historical norm. The 21-year streak of consecutive increases is a meaningful data point, but the 261.5% payout ratio is a real trade-off. What an investor gets here is low market sensitivity and a growing per-share payment. What they accept is a payout that currently exceeds reported earnings by a wide margin.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-15 | $0.8500 |
| 2026-06-15 | $0.8500 |
| 2026-03-16 | $0.8500 |
| 2025-12-15 | $0.8500 |
| 2025-09-15 | $0.8100 |
| 2025-06-16 | $0.8100 |
| 2025-03-17 | $0.8100 |
| 2024-12-16 | $0.8100 |
| 2024-09-16 | $0.7700 |
| 2024-06-17 | $0.7700 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $2.5500 |
| 2025 | $3.2800 |
| 2024 | $3.1200 |
| 2023 | $2.9600 |
| 2022 | $2.8000 |
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