How to buy Merck-and-Company (MRK) shares in Australia

Merck & Company Inc (MRK) is a leading drug manufacturers - general business with stocks listed in the US. It closed the previous market day at US$99.52. During the previous open market day, the price has varied from a low of USD97.82 to a high of USD99.94. Merck-and-Company is listed on the NYSE. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

Have Merck-and-Company's shares ever split?

Merck-and-Company's shares were split on a 1048:1000 basis on 2 June 2021. So if you had owned 1000 shares the day before the split, the next day you would own 1048 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Merck-and-Company shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 4.6% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Merck-and-Company shares which in turn could have impacted Merck-and-Company's share price.

Merck-and-Company shares at a glance

52-week range	US$93.7297 - US$132.6732
50-day moving average more info button	US$103.0108
200-day moving average more info button	US$118.2887
Target price	US$129.9668
PE ratio more info button	20.5732
Dividend yield more info button	US$3.04 (3.29%)
Earnings per share (TTM) more info button	US$4.78

Merck-and-Company share growth calculator

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Merck-and-Company price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $99.52

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Is it a good time to buy Merck-and-Company stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. However, this is not a recommendation. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Is Merck-and-Company under- or over-valued?

Valuing Merck-and-Company stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Merck-and-Company's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Merck-and-Company's P/E ratio

Merck-and-Company's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 21x. In other words, Merck-and-Company shares trade at around 21x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Merck-and-Company's PEG ratio

Merck-and-Company's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.0696. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Merck-and-Company's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Merck-and-Company's EBITDA

Merck-and-Company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$22.9 billion (£18.1 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Merck-and-Company's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure stock profitability.

Merck-and-Company share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Merck-and-Company's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$93.7297 up to US$132.6732. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta measures a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Merck-and-Company's is 0.411. This would suggest that Merck-and-Company's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Merck-and-Company financials

Revenue TTM	US$63.2 billion
Operating margin TTM	26.2%
Gross profit TTM	US$42.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	10.53%
Return on equity TTM	28.33%
Profit margin	19.23%
Book value	17.576
Market capitalisation more info button	US$248.8 billion
EBITDA more info button	US$22.9 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Merck-and-Company share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 52.44% of net profits

Recently Merck-and-Company has paid out, on average, around 52.44% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.29% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Merck-and-Company shareholders could enjoy a 3.29% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Merck-and-Company's case, that would currently equate to about $3.04 per share.

Merck-and-Company's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Merck-and-Company's most recent dividend payout was on 7 January 2025. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 15 December 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Merck-and-Company's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Merck-and-Company.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Merck-and-Company's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 28.35

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Merck-and-Company's overall score of 28.35 (as at 12/31/2018) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 47th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Merck-and-Company is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Merck-and-Company's environmental score

Environmental score: 3.15/100

Merck-and-Company's environmental score of 3.15 puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Merck-and-Company is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Merck-and-Company's social score

Social score: 15.55/100

Merck-and-Company's social score of 15.55 puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Merck-and-Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Merck-and-Company's governance score

Governance score: 12.65/100

Merck-and-Company's governance score puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Merck-and-Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Merck-and-Company's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Merck-and-Company scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Merck-and-Company hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Merck & Company Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	28.35
Total ESG percentile	47.16
Environmental score	3.15
Environmental score percentile	4
Social score	15.55
Social score percentile	4
Governance score	12.65
Governance score percentile	4
Level of controversy	3

Merck-and-Company overview

Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It 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 under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. vIt has development and commercialization agreement for three of Daiichi Sankyo's deruxtecan ADC candidates, which include patritumab deruxtecan, ifinatamab deruxtecan, and raludotatug deruxtecan for the treatment of multiple solid tumors both as monotherapy and/or in combination with other treatments; and AstraZeneca PLC to co-development and co-commercialize AstraZeneca's Lynparza products for multiple cancer types, and Koselugo for multiple indications. It also has licensed to develop, manufacture and commercialize LM-299, a novel investigational PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody from LaNova. The company also has a collaboration agreement with Eisai Co., Ltd., Bayer AG, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, as well Moderna, Inc. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Merck-and-Company is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.061% of Merck-and-Company shares are held by insiders and 79.453% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Merck-and-Company?

  Merck-and-Company's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Merck-and-Company based?

  Merck-and-Company's address is: 126 East Lincoln Avenue, Rahway, NJ, United States, 07065

• What is Merck-and-Company's ISIN number?

  Merck-and-Company's international securities identification number is: US58933Y1055

• What is Merck-and-Company's CUSIP number?

  Merck-and-Company's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 589339209