Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that develops and sells prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. It serves healthcare providers, patients, and animal health customers worldwide. The company also collaborates with other firms to develop and commercialize various pharmaceutical products.

Snapshot

Fundamentals are from SEC filings for FY2025, the latest annual period (ended December 31, 2025). P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.

Peer comparison

Where Merck’s fundamentals sit among the 198 pharmaceutical companies. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it, from lowest (left) to highest (right).

Merck’s return on equity of 34.7% ranks in the 91st percentile of the 167 pharmaceutical companies reporting it. Merck’s P/E of 118.0 ranks in the 90th percentile of the 60 peers with a meaningful P/E.

No reported insider purchases (code P) in the last 90 days; 17 insider sales totaling $30.0M. For context, about 14% of companies in the universe saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in the same window. Browse insider activity →

Percentiles describe where a figure sits among industry peers reporting it (100th = highest). They are position within a peer group, not a rating, and not investment advice. Short interest ranking uses days to cover from FINRA Consolidated Short Interest data; FINRA is the owner and source of that data, included at no additional charge.

Institutional ownership

Held by 4 of the superinvestors we track (plus 6 quant / multi-strat books), based on each investor’s most recent 13F; periods vary by investor (newest: Q2 2026).

From quarterly Form 13F filings, which can be up to 45 days delayed. Long US-listed positions only: excludes short positions, options, cash, bonds, and non-US holdings, so this is not a manager’s complete portfolio. Counts are of the investors we track, not all institutions. Not investment advice.

Recent insider activity

Non-derivative buys and sells (codes P/S) reported by officers, directors and 10% owners on SEC Form 4.

Reported non-derivative purchases and sales (codes P/S) — which may be open-market or private; excludes option exercises, grants, and shares withheld for taxes. Dates shown are the trade date; a Form 4 can be filed days to years later. A sale can be routine (e.g. a pre-set 10b5-1 plan), so read individual transactions in context. From SEC Form 4. Not investment advice.

Short interest

Total shares sold short as of each twice-monthly FINRA settlement. Rising short interest means more investors are positioned against the stock; days to cover estimates how many trading days of average volume that position represents.

Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data, which is included at no additional charge for your own personal or professional use; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Settlement dates are shown; FINRA publishes each settlement about nine business days later, so the latest figure can be two to four weeks old. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied. Not investment advice.

Quarterly trend (as reported)

Latest 8 reported quarters, from company XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR.

Company facts

Selected SEC filings

Largest pharmaceutical peers

All pharmaceutical stocks →All Healthcare companies →

MRK head to head