Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
The principal market for trading of the Company’s Common Stock is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol MRK.
As of January 31, 2024, there were approximately 90,400 shareholders of record of the Company’s Common Stock.
Issuer purchases of equity securities for the three months ended December 31, 2023 were as follows:
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs ($ in millions)
Period Total Number
of Shares
Purchased (1)
Average Price
Paid Per
Share Approximate Dollar Value of Shares
That May Yet Be Purchased
Under the Plans or Programs (1)
October 1 — October 31 1,309,424 $103.26 1,309,424 $3,959
November 1 — November 30 1,395,457
$102.30 1,395,457
$3,816
December 1 — December 31 1,100,500
$104.84 1,100,500
$3,701
Total 3,805,381 $103.36 3,805,381
(1) All shares purchased during the period were made as part of a plan approved by the Board of Directors in October 2018 to purchase up to $10 billion in Merck shares for its treasury.
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Performance Graph
The following graph assumes a $100 investment on December 31, 2018, and reinvestment of all dividends, in each of the Company’s Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a composite peer group of major U.S. and European-based pharmaceutical companies, which are: AbbVie Inc., Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca plc, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding AG, and Sanofi SA.
Comparison of Five-Year Cumulative Total Return
Merck & Co., Inc., Composite Peer Group and S&P 500 Index
End of
Period Value 2023/2018
CAGR*
MERCK $174 12%
PEER GROUP** 171 11%
S&P 500 207 16%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
MERCK 100.0 122.3 113.4 115.5 172.5 174.3
PEER GROUP 100.0 118.5 126.5 155.4 164.6 171.2
S&P 500 100.0 131.5 155.6 200.3 164.0 207.0
* Compound Annual Growth Rate
** Peer group average was calculated on a market cap weighted basis as of December 31, 2018.
This Performance Graph will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference. In addition, the Performance Graph will not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, other than as provided in Regulation S-K, or to the liabilities of section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent that the Company specifically requests that such information be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporates it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
Item 6. [Reserved]
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