Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) stock price, quote and key numbers
Updated 28 September 2026, 09:52 ET
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) closed at $148.78 on 25 September 2026, up 0.5%. That leaves it up 1.3% over a week, down 2.8% over a month and up 86.7% over a year. That is 90% of the way up its 52 week range of $77.58 to $156.92. The median analyst price target of $160 sits 7.5% above the close.
The price
Changes compare dividend and split adjusted closes over trading sessions, so the one year figure is the last close against the close 252 sessions earlier. The 52 week range uses the daily highs and lows of the same window. Read the guide: How to read a stock quote.
The live price, the day's chart and the pre market and after hours prints are in the app: open MRK in Just Stock Quotes.
Trend and range
MRK trades above both its 50 day average of $140.38 and its 200 day average of $121.67, the shape of an uptrend. The 50 day average sits above the 200 day average. Its beta against the S&P 500 over the last year is 0.22, a stock that barely follows the market. It is 5.2% below its 52 week high and 91.8% above its 52 week low.
Moving averages smooth the closes of the last 50 and 200 sessions; being above or below them describes the trend, it does not predict it. Beta is how much the stock moved for each move in the S&P 500 over the year. Read the guide: Moving averages, the 52 week range and beta.
What analysts say
In the last 90 days 17 firms recorded 24 actions on MRK: 21 kept a view, 2 upgrades and 1 downgrade. Price targets: 22 raised. The most recent targets from 19 firms run from $120 to $180, with a median of $160, 7.5% above the last close.
| Date | Firm | Action | Price target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Sep 2026 | HSBC | Maintains Buy | $150.00 to $172.00 |
| 9 Sep 2026 | Leerink Partners | Maintains Outperform | $127.00 to $161.00 |
| 8 Sep 2026 | Guggenheim | Maintains Buy | $146.00 to $170.00 |
| 4 Sep 2026 | Wells Fargo | Maintains Overweight | $150.00 to $170.00 |
| 25 Aug 2026 | Wolfe Research | Maintains Outperform | $155.00 to $180.00 |
| 25 Aug 2026 | Argus Research | Maintains Buy | $145.00 to $170.00 |
A target is one firm's guess at the price a year out, and the average runs optimistic. The useful reading is the mood: high targets and a wall of buys mean high expectations. Read the guide: What analyst ratings and price targets tell you.
Earnings
The next report is on the calendar for 29 October 2026 for Q3 2026, with earnings per share expected at $2.22. The last report, on 4 August 2026 for Q2 2026, showed EPS of -$0.13 against $0.23 expected, a miss of 156.5%, on revenue of $16.6 billion. Merck & Co. Inc. beat the EPS estimate in 7 of its last 8 reported quarters.
Set a percent move alert before the report and the app pings you when the stock reacts, even after hours: open MRK in Just Stock Quotes.
The numbers
Over the trailing twelve months Merck & Co. Inc. shows revenue growth of 4.64%, a gross margin of 72.97%, an operating margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 6.98%.
| Measure | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth, TTM | 4.6% | 46th |
| Net income growth, TTM | -80.7% | 5th |
| Gross margin | 73.0% | 85th |
| Operating margin | 11.6% | 68th |
| Free cash flow margin | 24.1% | 87th |
| Return on equity | 7.0% | 58th |
| Return on assets | 2.6% | 68th |
| Debt to equity | 1.27 | 81st |
| Current ratio | 1.32 | 54th |
| Effective tax rate | 46.7% | 95th |
The percentile ranks the company against every US company the data covers; a high percentile means most companies score lower.
Margins say how much of each dollar of sales becomes profit, returns say how hard the balance sheet works, and debt to equity says how much of it is borrowed. The valuation ratios, price to earnings and the rest, are in the app on the stock page. Read the guide: The valuation ratios on a stock page.
About Merck & Co. Inc.
- Exchange
- NYSE
- Sector
- Health Care
- Industry
- Pharmaceutical Products
- Headquarters
- KENILWORTH, New Jersey
- Chief executive
- Robert M. Davis
- Employees
- 69,000
- Website
- merck.com
Merck & Co. operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services.
In the same sector
Other Health Care names in the S&P 500, by market cap:
LLY Eli Lilly & Co.JNJ Johnson & JohnsonABBV AbbVie Inc.UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc.TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.AMGN Amgen Inc.GILD Gilead Sciences, Inc.ABT Abbott Laboratories
Learn
- How to read a stock quote
- Reading a price chart from one day to one year
- Moving averages, the 52 week range and beta
- What analyst ratings and price targets tell you
- The valuation ratios on a stock page
- Price alerts, targets and percent moves
Add MRK to your watchlist, set a price alert, watch the live chart and ask FundSpec AI about it. No account, no subscription. The same screen is in the iPhone, iPad and Android apps.
Open MRK in Just Stock Quotes