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Merck OKs $10B buyback
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February 22, 2000: 4:51 p.m. ET
Drug maker also declares quarterly dividend; stock up 6 percent
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The board of directors of Merck & Co., the largest U.S. pharmaceutical company, approved a $10 billion stock repurchase program Tuesday and declared a second-quarter dividend of 29 cents a share.
The news helped push the Dow component's stock up 3-1/2, or 6 percent, to 65-1/2 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
The Whitehouse, N.J.-company's board authorized the buyback of up to $10 billion of the company's common stock for its treasury. As of the end of last year, Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates) had spent $3.9 billion to acquire 54.9 million shares under a July 1998 repurchase plan that authorized the buyback of as much as $5 billion worth of its shares.
The $10 billion buyback program comes on top of that. The shares will be used for the company's employee benefit programs and other general corporate purposes, Merck said.
The 29-cent dividend on the company's common stock is payable April 3 to stockholders of record on March 3. 
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Merck
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