Top MarketRank™ StocksTop MarketRank™NYSE:MRK Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Stock Price, News & Analysis $79.27 +1.15 (+1.47%) Closing price 08/1/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$79.28 +0.02 (+0.02%) As of 08/1/2025 07:59 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Stock Analysis Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFDA EventsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock About Merck & Co., Inc. Stock (NYSE:MRK) 30 days 90 days 365 days Advanced Chart View Price History Chart DataSkip Price History Chart Get Merck & Co., Inc. alerts:Sign Up Key Stats Today's Range$77.53▼$79.8750-Day Range$76.17▼$84.8252-Week Range$73.31▼$120.30Volume11.90 million shsAverage Volume12.51 million shsMarket Capitalization$199.05 billionP/E Ratio12.21Dividend Yield4.09%Price Target$107.44Consensus RatingHold Company Overview Merck & Co., Inc. is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products, such as pharmaceutical and vaccine products, for the prevention, treatment and control of disease in livestock, and companion animal species. The Other segment consists of sales for the non-reportable segments of healthcare services. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Rahway, NJ. Read More Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Analysis - MarketRank™See Top-Rated MarketRank™ Stocks100th Percentile Overall ScoreMRK MarketRank™: Merck & Co., Inc. scored higher than 100% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 4th out of 919 stocks in the medical sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation. Analyst's Opinion3.2 / 5Analyst RatingHold Consensus RatingMerck & Co., Inc. has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.35, and is based on 6 buy ratings, 12 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.Amount of Analyst CoverageMerck & Co., Inc. has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.Read more about Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock forecast and price target. Earnings and Valuation3.8 / 5Proj. Earnings Growth9.88% Earnings GrowthEarnings for Merck & Co., Inc. are expected to grow by 9.88% in the coming year, from $9.01 to $9.90 per share.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the MarketThe P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 12.21, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 28.09.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. SectorThe P/E ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 12.21, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 28.67.Price to Earnings Growth RatioMerck & Co., Inc. has a PEG Ratio of 0.79. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.Price to Book Value per Share RatioMerck & Co., Inc. has a P/B Ratio of 4.32. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities. Short Interest5.0 / 5Short Interest LevelHealthy Percentage of Shares Shorted1.15% of the float of Merck & Co., Inc. has been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverMerck & Co., Inc. has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.9, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Merck & Co., Inc. has recently decreased by 18.01%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly. Dividend5.0 / 5Dividend StrengthStrong Dividend LeadershipMerck & Co., Inc. is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 4.15%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.Dividend GrowthMerck & Co., Inc. has been increasing its dividend for 14 years.Dividend CoverageThe dividend payout ratio of Merck & Co., Inc. is 49.92%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.Dividend SustainabilityBased on earnings estimates, Merck & Co., Inc. will have a dividend payout ratio of 32.73% next year. This indicates that Merck & Co., Inc. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.Read more about Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend. Sustainability and ESG4.2 / 5Environmental Score-2.49 Percentage of Shares Shorted1.15% of the float of Merck & Co., Inc. has been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverMerck & Co., Inc. has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.9, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Merck & Co., Inc. has recently decreased by 18.01%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly. News and Social Media4.0 / 5News Sentiment1.17 News SentimentMerck & Co., Inc. has a news sentiment score of 1.17. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.63 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.News Coverage This WeekMarketBeat has tracked 95 news articles for Merck & Co., Inc. this week, compared to 60 articles on an average week.Search Interest159 people have searched for MRK on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 39% compared to the previous 30 days.MarketBeat Follows35 people have added Merck & Co., Inc. to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 25% compared to the previous 30 days. Company Ownership1.7 / 5Insider TradingN/A Insider Buying vs. Insider SellingIn the past three months, Merck & Co., Inc. insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.Percentage Held by InsidersOnly 0.13% of the stock of Merck & Co., Inc. is held by insiders.Percentage Held by Institutions76.07% of the stock of Merck & Co., Inc. is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.Read more about Merck & Co., Inc.'s insider trading history. Receive MRK Stock News and Ratings via Email Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for Merck & Co., Inc. and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address MRK Stock News HeadlinesMerck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Needs To Move On From Talking About Its Animal Division, Says Jim CramerAugust 1 at 4:58 PM | insidermonkey.com5 Regular Payout High-Yield VIG Dividends to Outpace the FedJuly 30 at 3:11 PM | 247wallst.comIs Elon's empire crumbling?The Tesla Shock Nobody Sees Coming While headlines scream "Tesla is doomed"... Jeff Brown has uncovered a revolutionary AI breakthrough buried inside Tesla's labs. One that is helping AI escape from our computer screens and manifest itself here in the real world all while creating a 25,000% growth market explosion starting as early as October 23rd. | Brownstone Research (Ad)Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Merck & Co., Inc. Call Options (NYSE:MRK)July 30 at 3:21 AM | americanbankingnews.comWhy Merck Stock Slipped TodayJuly 29, 2025 | fool.comMerck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Q2 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptJuly 29, 2025 | seekingalpha.comMerck’s Full Year Guidance Disappoints Investors But Retail Pins Hopes On $3B Cost-Cutting PlanJuly 29, 2025 | msn.comMerck’s (NYSE:MRK) Q2 Earnings Results: Revenue In Line With ExpectationsJuly 29, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comSee More Headlines MRK Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions How have MRK shares performed this year? Merck & Co., Inc.'s stock was trading at $99.48 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, MRK stock has decreased by 20.3% and is now trading at $79.27. How were Merck & Co., Inc.'s earnings last quarter? Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July, 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm earned $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. Read the conference call transcript. Is Merck & Co., Inc. buying back stock? Merck & Co., Inc.'s board approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th 2025, which allows the company to buy back $10,000,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued. Who are Merck & Co., Inc.'s major shareholders? Merck & Co., Inc.'s top institutional shareholders include Nordea Investment Management AB (0.43%), Swedbank AB (0.31%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. (0.30%) and DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale (0.22%). Insiders that own company stock include Kenneth C Frazier, Robert M Davis, Richard R Deluca, Rita A Karachun, Steven Mizell, Joseph Romanelli, Johannes Jacobus Oosthuizen, Dalton E Smart III, Cristal N Downing, Inge G Thulin and Sanat Chattopadhyay. View institutional ownership trends. How do I buy shares of Merck & Co., Inc.? Shares of MRK stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services. What other stocks do shareholders of Merck & Co., Inc. own? Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Merck & Co., Inc. investors own include Chevron (CVX), Salesforce (CRM), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), Comcast (CMCSA), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AbbVie (ABBV) and Home Depot (HD). Company Calendar Record date for 7/8 Dividend6/16/2025Ex-Dividend for 7/8 Dividend6/16/2025Dividend Payable7/08/2025Last Earnings7/29/2025Today8/01/2025Fiscal Year End12/31/2025Get Stock AlertsIndustry, Sector and Symbol Stock ExchangeNYSE SectorMedical Industry Large Cap Pharma Sub-IndustryPharmaceuticals Current SymbolNYSE:MRK CIK310158 Webwww.merck.com Phone(908) 740-4000Fax908-735-1253Employees75,000Year Founded1891Price Target and Rating Average Price Target for Merck & Co., Inc.$107.44 High Price Target$140.00 Low Price Target$84.00 Potential Upside/Downside+35.5%Consensus RatingHold Rating Score (0-4)2.35 Research Coverage20 Analysts Profitability EPS (Trailing Twelve Months)$6.49 Trailing P/E Ratio12.21 Forward P/E Ratio8.80 P/E Growth0.83Net Income$17.12 billion Net Margins25.79% Pretax Margin30.12% Return on Equity41.63% Return on Assets16.58% Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.69 Current Ratio1.41 Quick Ratio1.16 Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$64.17 billion Price / Sales3.10 Cash Flow$9.17 per share Price / Cash Flow8.64 Book Value$18.33 per share Price / Book4.32Miscellaneous Outstanding Shares2,511,030,000Free Float2,507,767,000Market Cap$199.05 billion OptionableOptionable Beta0.39 Social Links 7 Energy Stocks to Buy and Hold ForeverWith the proliferation of data centers and electric vehicles, the electric grid will only get more strained. Download this report to learn how energy stocks can play a role in your portfolio as the global demand for energy continues to grow.Get This Free Report This page (NYSE:MRK) was last updated on 8/2/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersIs Elon's empire crumbling?The Tesla Shock Nobody Sees Coming While headlines scream "Tesla is doomed"... Jeff Brown has uncovered ...Brownstone Research | SponsoredHe Called Nvidia at $1.10. Now, He Says THIS Stock Will…The original Magnificent Seven returned 16,894%—turning $7K into $1.18 million. Now, the man who called Nvi...The Oxford Club | SponsoredChina just unlocked Nvidia’s AI chips—what that means for youTired of Missing Big AI Moves Like Nvidia? You’re not the problem—your trading system is. Tim’s XGPT system...Timothy Sykes | SponsoredMarket Crash Warning: How to Protect Your Wealth Before August 12thChina tariffs hit August 12—and experts warn a market meltdown may follow. 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