MRK241129P00080000 Option on Merck Company

MRK Stock  USD 91.43  0.16  0.18%   
Merck's latest option contracts expiring on May 16th 2025 are carrying combined implied volatility of 0.37 with a put-to-call open interest ratio of 0.59 over 30 outstanding agreements suggesting investors are buying more calls than puts on contracts expiring on May 16th 2025. The total put volume is at 451, with calls trading at the volume of 1.7 K. This yields a 0.26 put-to-call volume ratio.

Open Interest Against May 16th 2025 Option Contracts

The chart above shows Merck's distribution of open interest by maturity on contracts that have not yet been settled. The area between the two highest points is the projection of the price at expiration. Merck's open interest chart also provides vital information regarding the liquidity of an option. If there is no open interest for Merck's option, there is no secondary market available for investors to trade.

Merck Maximum Pain Price Across 2025-05-16 Option Contracts

Merck's max pain occurs when market makers reach a net positive position across all options at a strike price where option holders stand to lose the most money. By contrast, option sellers may reap the most after selling more options than buying, causing them to expire worthless.

In The Money vs. Out of Money Option Contracts on Merck

Analyzing Merck's in-the-money options over time can help investors to take a profitable long position in Merck regardless of its overall volatility. This is especially true when Merck's options are deep in the money. These options can be identified using deltas that are over 0.75. Deep in-the-money Merck's options could be used as guardians of the underlying stock as they move almost dollar for dollar with Merck's stock while costing only a fraction of its price.

Merck Company In The Money Call Balance

When Merck's strike price is surpassing the current stock price, the option contract against Merck Company stock is said to be in the money. When it comes to buying Merck's options that are 'In the Money' or 'Out of the Money', the choice depends on your outlook for the underlying security, financial situation, and what you are trying to achieve.
While 'out-of-the-money' option contracts written on Merck Company are typically viewed as the more aggressive, there are potential upsides to purchasing these types of options contracts. For one, the cost to buy an 'Out of the Money' option is lower than the cost to buy an 'In the Money' option. This cost-benefit is due to the fact that at the time of the purchase, 'Out of the Money' contracts have no intrinsic value. So, while the potential for a 100% loss is more significant, the cost and risk to enter the trade are lower.

Merck Current Options Market Mood

Merck's open interest and total value indicators provide investors with the necessary information to digest the overall options buildup for its expiring contracts. In addition, it helps Merck Stock's traders understand whether a recent fall or rise in the market is unreasonable and if the time has come to take contrarian positions. These ratios are calculated based on options trading volumes and current open interest.

Put-to-Call Open Interest

Put-to-Call Volume

Unfortunately, most Merck's options investors are not very successful. Merck's option open interest and volume spread between outstanding puts and calls are regarded by many investors as reliable indicators of the overall future market direction.

Rule 16 of the current Merck contract

Base on the Rule 16, the options market is currently suggesting that Merck Company will have an average daily up or down price movement of about 0.0231% per day over the life of the 2025-05-16 option contract. With Merck trading at USD 91.43, that is roughly USD 0.0211. If you think that the market is fully incorporating Merck's daily price movement you should consider buying Merck Company options at the current volatility level of 0.37%. But if you have an opposite viewpoint you should avoid it and even consider selling them.
  
Purchasing Merck options can give investors a meaningful hedge against losses and, therefore, could be used conservatively to decrease the volatility of your portfolio. However, many options could also amount to little more than gambling, significantly enhancing your overall portfolio risk. One simple example of these aggressive strategies is the sale of "uncovered" Merck calls. Remember, the seller must deliver Merck Company stock to the call owner when a call is exercised.

Merck Option Chain

When Merck's strike price is surpassing the current stock price, the option contract against Merck Company stock is said to be in the money. When it comes to buying options that are ITM or OTM, the choice depends on your outlook for the underlying security, financial situation, and what you are trying to achieve.
Merck's option chain is a display of a range of information that helps investors for ways to trade options on Merck. In general, an option chain provides a helpful tool for investors to see all available option contracts, both puts, and calls, for Merck. It also shows strike prices and maturity days for a Merck against a given expiration period. The table below combines all the option information in the form of a chain but before you use it, remember that it entails significant risk and it is not for everyone.
Open IntStrike PriceCurrent SpreadLast Price
Call
MRK250516C000700007770.021.6 - 22.0520.57In
Call
MRK250516C0007500016975.016.8 - 17.3517.3In
Call
MRK250516C0008000022280.011.3 - 12.7512.7In
Call
MRK250516C0008500074685.07.8 - 8.858.14In
Call
MRK250516C0009000053290.05.0 - 5.655.5In
Call
MRK250516C00095000294195.02.89 - 3.352.98Out
Call
MRK250516C00100000954100.01.52 - 1.771.5Out
Call
MRK250516C00105000110105.00.65 - 0.940.78Out
Call
MRK250516C00110000265110.00.23 - 0.490.42Out
Call
MRK250516C001150006115.00.16 - 0.310.28Out
Call
MRK250516C001200003120.00.02 - 0.210.33Out
Call
MRK250516C001250000125.00.02 - 1.60.02Out
Call
MRK250516C001300000130.00.0 - 1.31.3Out
 Put
MRK250516P00050000850.00.0 - 0.530.16Out
 Put
MRK250516P000550002855.00.0 - 1.350.13Out
 Put
MRK250516P000600001360.00.0 - 0.710.16Out
 Put
MRK250516P000650004565.00.1 - 1.710.22Out
 Put
MRK250516P000700004970.00.29 - 0.50.35Out
 Put
MRK250516P00075000100575.00.51 - 0.780.62Out
 Put
MRK250516P00080000146380.00.79 - 1.161.16Out
 Put
MRK250516P0008500018085.01.94 - 2.242.2Out
 Put
MRK250516P0009000049190.03.85 - 4.054.2Out
 Put
MRK250516P000950007995.06.45 - 8.37.0In
 Put
MRK250516P00100000210100.08.5 - 12.0510.5In
 Put
MRK250516P001050003105.013.7 - 14.7514.6In
 Put
MRK250516P001100000110.018.35 - 19.3518.35In
 Put
MRK250516P001150000115.023.0 - 25.123.0In
 Put
MRK250516P001200000120.028.6 - 29.328.6In
 Put
MRK250516P001250000125.032.45 - 35.1532.45In
 Put
MRK250516P001300000130.038.15 - 39.338.15In

Merck Selling And Marketing Expenses Over Time

   Selling And Marketing Expenses   
       Timeline  

Merck Market Cap Over Time

   Market Cap   
       Timeline  

Merck Total Stockholder Equity

Total Stockholder Equity

26.07 Billion

At this time, Merck's Total Stockholder Equity is quite stable compared to the past year.

Merck Corporate Directors

Thomas GlocerLead Independent DirectorProfile
Christine SeidmanIndependent DirectorProfile
Kathy WardenIndependent DirectorProfile
Paul RothmanIndependent DirectorProfile
When determining whether Merck Company is a good investment, qualitative aspects like company management, corporate governance, and ethical practices play a significant role. A comparison with peer companies also provides context and helps to understand if Merck Stock is undervalued or overvalued. This multi-faceted approach, blending both quantitative and qualitative analysis, forms a solid foundation for making an informed investment decision about Merck Company Stock. Highlighted below are key reports to facilitate an investment decision about Merck Company Stock:
Check out Correlation Analysis to better understand how to build diversified portfolios, which includes a position in Merck Company. Also, note that the market value of any company could be closely tied with the direction of predictive economic indicators such as signals in metropolitan statistical area.
You can also try the Insider Screener module to find insiders across different sectors to evaluate their impact on performance.
Is Pharmaceuticals space expected to grow? Or is there an opportunity to expand the business' product line in the future? Factors like these will boost the valuation of Merck. If investors know Merck will grow in the future, the company's valuation will be higher. The financial industry is built on trying to define current growth potential and future valuation accurately. All the valuation information about Merck listed above have to be considered, but the key to understanding future value is determining which factors weigh more heavily than others.
Quarterly Earnings Growth
(0.33)
Dividend Share
3.08
Earnings Share
6.74
Revenue Per Share
25.253
Quarterly Revenue Growth
0.068
The market value of Merck Company is measured differently than its book value, which is the value of Merck that is recorded on the company's balance sheet. Investors also form their own opinion of Merck's value that differs from its market value or its book value, called intrinsic value, which is Merck's true underlying value. Investors use various methods to calculate intrinsic value and buy a stock when its market value falls below its intrinsic value. Because Merck's market value can be influenced by many factors that don't directly affect Merck's underlying business (such as a pandemic or basic market pessimism), market value can vary widely from intrinsic value.
Please note, there is a significant difference between Merck's value and its price as these two are different measures arrived at by different means. Investors typically determine if Merck is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, Merck's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.