A vaccine and an antiviral treatment for COVID-19 made (NYSE: PFE) a household name in recent years, but this isn't all the company sells. There are dozens of innovative medicines in its product lineup that benefit from patent-protected market exclusivity.

With patents on drugs that many patients can't live without, Pfizer had no trouble distributing about $9.25 billion to its shareholders last year in the form of a dividend it had set at $0.41 per share.

Pfizer announced it would raise its dividend payout by a penny to $0.42 per share last December. The company's existing share repurchase authorization stood at $3.3 billion on May 1, but the company doesn't expect to repurchase any shares this year.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com