Bloomberg: Merck to Split Stock 2-for-1 in February, First Split Since '92
Bloomberg News
November 24, 1998, 1:47 p.m. ET
Merck to Split Stock 2-for-1 in February, First Split Since '92
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Merck
& Co., the world's biggest drugmaker, said it will split its
stock two-for-one in February, its first split since 1992.
Rising U.S. drug sales have led four of Merck's rivals,
Schering-Plough Corp., American Home Products Corp., Abbott
Laboratories and Warner-Lambert Co., to announce stock splits in
the past year.
Drugmakers are selling more medicine partly because the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration is approving new products more
quickly and allows more advertisements on television.
Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, said the
split will apply to shares held as of Jan. 25. Merck's last split
was in 1992, when the stock was split three for one.
Merck rose 2 to 158 in afternoon trading.
--Kerry Dooley in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4016 /mfr |
