Good morning
Although I am generally more of a supporter of holding dividend stocks, I can understand your decision to sell SAN and MRK. It is a nice capital gain, the market is very high at the moment and the stocks no longer have a huge dividend growth potential.
As for the new liquidity available, I am in the same situation as you at the moment. I have quite a bit of cash and I am lying in wait, waiting for a correction that becomes really necessary. I also have a few stocks in my sights that remain at attractive valuations, such as DWX (US ETF), Casino in Paris and on the Swiss market Swisscom and Zurich Insurance.