Merck’s strong R&D and cash holding are big pluses

Article Excerpt

Merck spends a very high 25% of its sales on research. That goes into developing new drugs but also into finding more profitable uses for its current drugs. A big cash holding of $11.2 billion also gives Merck lots of financial strength—and room for dividend hikes. It’s a Power Buy. MERCK & CO. INC., $108.79, was a #1 buy for 2022. The drugmaker (New York symbol MRK; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (www.merck.com; Shares o/s: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $280.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%) is a pharmaceutical leader in oncology, acute-care and animal health drugs as well as vaccines. Merck will now buy cancer drug developer Imago BioSciences Inc. for a total of $1.35 billion to expand its portfolio of blood disorder treatments. Imago, which develops drugs for the treatment of bone marrow-related diseases, is currently testing its lead drug bomedemstat as treatment for a chronic cancer known as myeloproliferative neoplasms. Meanwhile, Merck earned $1.85 a share in the three months ended September 30, 2022, up 3.9% from $1.78. The…