Merck Stock Capital Return Hits $91 Bil
In the last decade, Merck (MRK) stock has returned a notable $91 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let’s look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market’s biggest capital-return machines.
As it turns out, MRK stock has returned the 21st highest amount to shareholders in history.
| MRK | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | $60 Bil | $4.5 Bil |
| Share Repurchase | $31 Bil | $5.6 Bil |
| Total Returned | $91 Bil | $9.4 Bil |
| Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap | 33.0% | 24.4% |
Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management’s confidence in the company’s financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.
Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return
| Total Money Returned | As % Of Current Market Cap | via Dividends | via Share Repurchases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $847 Bil | 23.0% | $141 Bil | $706 Bil |
| MSFT | $368 Bil | 11.2% | $169 Bil | $200 Bil |
| GOOGL | $357 Bil | 9.0% | $15 Bil | $342 Bil |
| XOM | $218 Bil | 38.1% | $146 Bil | $72 Bil |
| WFC | $212 Bil | 77.2% | $58 Bil | $153 Bil |
| META | $183 Bil | 11.9% | $9.1 Bil | $174 Bil |
| JPM | $181 Bil | 21.7% | $0.0 | $181 Bil |
| JNJ | $159 Bil | 30.3% | $105 Bil | $54 Bil |
| ORCL | $158 Bil | 31.7% | $35 Bil | $123 Bil |
| CVX | $157 Bil | 48.4% | $99 Bil | $58 Bil |
For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking
What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.
That’s the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals? With that in mind, let’s look at some numbers for MRK. (see Buy or Sell Merck Stock for more details)
Merck Fundamentals
- Revenue Growth: 1.7% LTM and 2.9% last 3-year average.
- Cash Generation: Nearly 20.3% free cash flow margin and 34.9% operating margin LTM.
- Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for MRK was 0.6%.
- Valuation: Merck stock trades at a P/E multiple of 14.6
| MRK | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Health Care | – |
| Industry | Pharmaceuticals | – |
| PE Ratio | 14.6 | 24.5 |
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| LTM* Revenue Growth | 1.7% | 6.4% |
| 3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth | 2.9% | 5.7% |
| Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y | 0.6% | 0.2% |
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| LTM* Operating Margin | 34.9% | 18.8% |
| 3Y Average Operating Margin | 23.7% | 18.4% |
| LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin | 20.3% | 13.5% |
*LTM: Last Twelve Months
The table gives good overview of what you get from MRK stock, but what about the risk?
MRK Historical Risk
Merck isn’t immune to sharp drops. It fell about 38% during the Dot-Com crash and took a bigger hit—63%—in the Global Financial Crisis. Even the 2018 correction saw a nearly 18% dip. The Covid sell-off knocked it down around 27%, and the recent inflation shock trimmed close to 20%. Solid fundamentals matter, but when volatility hits, even steady stocks like Merck can face steep declines.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.