Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Merck & Co MRK.
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don’t know. But when something this big happens with MRK, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what these investors just did?
Today, Benzinga‘s options scanner spotted 33 uncommon options trades for Merck & Co.
This isn’t normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 42% bullish and 33%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 9 are puts, for a total amount of $753,544, and 24 are calls, for a total amount of $1,133,972.
Projected Price Targets
Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $65.0 to $100.0 for Merck & Co over the recent three months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.
This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Merck & Co’s options for a given strike price.
Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Merck & Co’s whale activity within a strike price range from $65.0 to $100.0 in the last 30 days.
Merck & Co Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Ask | Bid | Price | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRK | PUT | TRADE | BULLISH | 06/18/26 | $7.2 | $7.05 | $7.05 | $70.00 | $352.5K | 811 | 501 |
| MRK | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 03/20/26 | $9.15 | $9.05 | $9.05 | $80.00 | $135.7K | 2.3K | 259 |
| MRK | PUT | SWEEP | BEARISH | 12/17/27 | $27.3 | $26.5 | $27.04 | $100.00 | $108.1K | 116 | 41 |
| MRK | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 05/23/25 | $2.79 | $2.71 | $2.79 | $76.00 | $97.6K | 1.0K | 399 |
| MRK | CALL | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 06/18/26 | $10.0 | $9.9 | $9.95 | $80.00 | $89.5K | 2.0K | 216 |
About Merck & Co
Merck makes pharmaceutical products to treat several conditions in a number of therapeutic areas, including cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and infections. Within cancer, the firm’s immuno-oncology platform is growing as a major contributor to overall sales. The company also has a substantial vaccine business, with treatments to prevent pediatric diseases as well as human papillomavirus, or HPV. Additionally, Merck sells animal health-related drugs. From a geographical perspective, just under half of the company’s sales are generated in the United States.
Present Market Standing of Merck & Co
- With a volume of 10,575,757, the price of MRK is up 0.86% at $77.89.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 70 days.
What Analysts Are Saying About Merck & Co
Over the past month, 2 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $84.5.
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* In a cautious move, an analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its rating to Neutral, setting a price target of $85.
* Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Citigroup lowers its rating to Neutral with a new price target of $84.
Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Merck & Co, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.
