MRK Dividend

Although MRK has a dividend of 0.85 with an ex-dividend date of Dec 15, you can sell covered calls on Merck & Company, Inc. (new) to create 12 extra dividend type payments per year to boost its yield. Let's look at some recent prices (last updated Fri 4:16 PM ET):

Merck & Company, Inc. (new) (MRK)
Bid	Ask	Last	Change	Volume	P/E	Market Cap
99.77	100.00	99.72	-1.17	15.9M	13	250B

MRK Dividend-Like Income Using Covered Calls

With MRK at 99.72, here's a table showing how big the annual "dividend" (i.e. total annual call premium received) would need to be to attain 3%, 5%, and 10% annual yields. Also shown is the equivalent number of cents/day necessary to achieve each yield:

Annual Yield	Annual Premium	Cents/Day
3%	2.99	0.8
5%	4.99	1.4
10%	9.97	2.7

So now we need to find out of the money covered calls that pay at least the prescribed cents/day amount of time premium. That will generate income and, because they are out of the money, leave room for some upside potential on the stock. Here are some examples:

3% Yield On MRK Using Covered Calls
Expiration	Strike	Call Bid	Days	Cents/Day	Upside Potential
Dec 12	100.00	1.05	8	13.1	0.00 (0.0%)
Dec 19	100.00	1.37	15	9.1	0.00 (0.0%)

5% Yield On MRK Using Covered Calls
Expiration	Strike	Call Bid	Days	Cents/Day	Upside Potential
Dec 12	100.00	1.05	8	13.1	0.00 (0.0%)
Dec 19	100.00	1.37	15	9.1	0.00 (0.0%)

10% Yield On MRK Using Covered Calls
Expiration	Strike	Call Bid	Days	Cents/Day	Upside Potential
Dec 12	100.00	1.05	8	13.1	0.00 (0.0%)
Dec 19	100.00	1.37	15	9.1	0.00 (0.0%)

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Top 10 Open Interest For Dec 19 Expiration				Top 5 High Yield
1.	NVDA dividend	6.	EEM dividend	1.	MRVL dividend
2.	SPY dividend	7.	TLT dividend	2.	VRT dividend
3.	QQQ dividend	8.	SLV dividend	3.	FULC dividend
4.	IWM dividend	9.	GLD dividend	4.	RZLT dividend
5.	IBIT dividend	10.	FXI dividend	5.	UAMY dividend

Want more examples? MRCY Dividend | MRNA Dividend