Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) heads into the last month of 2025 with its share price near the top of its 52‑week range, a richer pipeline, and a wave of new research coverage and corporate news that investors are digesting in real time.
As of the last trading session on Friday, November 28, 2025, Merck stock closed at $104.83, with a small after‑hours dip to $104.74. [1] That caps a powerful run over the past month: Merck shares have climbed roughly 22% over that period, according to new analysis from Simply Wall St. [2]
Below is a deep dive into the latest November 30 coverage on MRK, the key corporate and pipeline developments behind the rally, and what current valuations and dividends imply for investors following the stock.
Merck stock price snapshot as of November 30, 2025
Because November 30 falls on a Sunday in 2025, the most recent trading data for MRK is from the Friday session on November 28. On that day: [3]
- Close: $104.83
- After‑hours quote: $104.74
- Move on the day: +$0.20 (+0.19%)
- Recent trend: roughly 21–22% total return over the past month
StockAnalysis and other historical datasets show that Merck’s shares spent much of early autumn in the mid‑$80s before accelerating above $100 following its third‑quarter earnings release and a run of positive news in November. [4]
A recent Finviz recap noted that MRK is now trading near the top of its 52‑week range and that a hypothetical $1,000 investment five years ago would be worth about $1,260 today, underscoring Merck’s profile as a slow‑and‑steady compounder rather than a high‑beta high‑flyer. [5]
Fresh November 30 coverage: valuation debate after the rally
The strongest piece of new equity research coverage dated November 30, 2025 comes from Simply Wall St, which takes a close look at whether Merck’s sharp recent move has pushed the stock above fair value or not. [6]
Their headline points:
- Using their standard valuation approach, they place Merck’s “fair value” around $104.27 per share, almost exactly in line with Friday’s close at $104.83 – suggesting MRK is trading near intrinsic value. [7]
- However, a more detailed discounted cash flow (DCF) model on the same site estimates fair value closer to $216 per share, implying substantial upside if bullish cash‑flow assumptions prove correct. [8]
- Over the last month, Merck delivered a 21.9% total return, while its one‑year shareholder return is roughly 7%, reflecting how much of the move has occurred only recently. [9]
In plain English: some models now say “this looks fairly priced,” while others still see material undervaluation based on long‑term earnings and cash‑flow power. That split in valuation estimates is grounded in how analysts handicap:
- The durability of KEYTRUDA cash flows as biosimilar competition looms later this decade. [10]
- The revenue potential of new growth drivers such as CD388 (Cidara’s experimental flu drug), the HIV franchise and next‑generation oncology assets. [11]
Wall Street’s latest view: Wells Fargo upgrade caps a busy month
The valuation debate is not just academic. November has seen a notable re‑rating of MRK on the Street, culminating in a high‑profile upgrade that still reverberates through today’s coverage.
A November 24 note highlighted by GuruFocus shows that Wells Fargo upgraded Merck from Equal‑Weight to Overweight, lifting its price target from $90 to $125 – a 38.9% increase in the target. [12] The upgrade came after the stock’s post‑earnings strength and deepened confidence in Merck’s strategy to replace future KEYTRUDA revenue.
Other recent moves:
- Deutsche Bank maintained a Hold rating while nudging its price target from $110 to $111 on November 18. [13]
- Morgan Stanley reaffirmed Equal‑Weight with a slightly higher target ($100 vs. $98) on November 3. [14]
Across the broader analyst universe:
- Benzinga’s analyst‑rating aggregator reports a consensus rating of “Buy” from 28 analysts and a consensus 12‑month price target of $118.30, with targets ranging from $85 to $155. [15]
- GuruFocus, using a slightly different group of covering brokers, finds an average target of $101.09 (based on earlier prices around $97.76) and an average recommendation equivalent to “Outperform” (2.2 on a 1–5 scale). [16]
- MarketBeat’s summary pegs the consensus rating as “Moderate Buy”, with another set of targets pointing to mid‑to‑high single‑digit upside from current levels. [17]
Viewed together, the latest November 30 snapshot is this: most analysts are constructive, but the stock’s recent run means a portion of the upside they once saw has now been realized in the share price.
“3 Non‑AI stocks to buy”: MRK makes Motley Fool’s November 30 list
On the media side, Merck also shows up today in an article from Motley Fool, titled “3 Non‑AI Stocks to Buy: MRK, UPS, CVX” and dated November 30, 2025. [18]
The piece groups Merck with United Parcel Service and Chevron as large‑cap, non‑AI names that the authors see as attractive in an environment where investors are looking beyond the crowded artificial‑intelligence trade. While the article’s detailed arguments sit behind Motley Fool’s usual stock‑picking framing, the key point is straightforward: MRK is increasingly being highlighted as a high‑quality, defensive blue chip that can participate in upside without relying on AI mania.
That storyline meshes with the broader rotation described by other outlets, where investors have recently moved some capital out of richly priced growth and back into more stable sectors like healthcare and pharmaceuticals. [19]
Big strategic move: $9.2 billion Cidara deal and a $5+ billion flu opportunity
One of the largest strategic catalysts behind Merck’s renewed momentum is the acquisition of Cidara Therapeutics.
Two detailed Reuters pieces from mid‑November set the stage: [20]
- Merck agreed to acquire Cidara in a deal valued at nearly $9.2 billion, paying $221.50 per share in cash – more than double Cidara’s pre‑deal closing price.
- The rationale is centered on CD388, a long‑acting antiviral being developed as a single‑dose, universal flu‑prevention drug for high‑risk patients.
- Merck estimates a commercial opportunity exceeding $5 billion for CD388 and expects around 110 million Americans to be eligible, including 85 million considered high risk for influenza complications.
- CD388 is not a vaccine; it’s a drug‑Fc conjugate that could provide season‑long protection regardless of a patient’s immune status—a key distinction given evolving U.S. vaccination politics and policy.
Management has acknowledged that the acquisition will be dilutive by roughly $0.30 per share over the first 12 months after closing, reflecting integration costs and the expense of scaling CD388. [21] But the company and several analysts frame the deal as part of a deliberate strategy to diversify revenue ahead of KEYTRUDA’s patent expiry later this decade. [22]
For stockholders watching November 30 coverage, Cidara matters because it reinforces the narrative that Merck is willing to spend aggressively on late‑stage, lower‑risk assets that can produce meaningful revenue in the 2030s.
Pipeline momentum: HIV, hematology and next‑gen oncology
Beyond Cidara, Merck’s scientific newsflow in November has been unusually dense, with several items still being discussed in today’s commentary:
HIV: late‑stage oral regimen matches Biktarvy
Reuters reported on November 19 that Merck’s experimental oral HIV regimen, a combination of doravirine and islatravir, proved non‑inferior to Gilead’s blockbuster Biktarvy in a late‑stage trial of previously untreated adults with HIV‑1. [23]
Key points from that readout:
- Viral suppression at week 48 was comparable to Biktarvy, and the safety profile was similar.
- The U.S. FDA is expected to rule on the regimen by April 28, 2026. [24]
Analysts quoted in the coverage caution that this may not immediately disrupt the HIV treatment landscape, but it strengthens Merck’s hand in a major therapeutic area and adds another late‑stage asset into the post‑KEYTRUDA equation.
Hematology: ASH 2025 data on multiple investigational assets
A Business Wire press release detailing Merck’s plans for the ASH 2025 hematology conference—highlighted again in dividend and pipeline round‑ups today—shows how broad its hematology pipeline has become. [25]
Among the featured programs:
- MK‑1045, a CD19xCD3 T‑cell engager in leukemia and lymphoma
- Bomedemstat (MK‑3543), an LSD1 inhibitor in polycythemia vera and other myeloproliferative diseases
- Nemtabrutinib (MK‑1026), a non‑covalent BTK inhibitor aimed at resistant B‑cell malignancies
- Zilovertamab vedotin (MK‑2140), an antibody‑drug conjugate (ADC) targeting ROR1 in a variety of B‑cell lymphomas
More than 20 abstracts will be presented across multiple hematologic malignancies, reinforcing Merck’s ambitions in blood cancers and related conditions. [26]
Oncology financing: $700 million Blackstone funding for sac‑TMT
Backing that pipeline, Merck also signed a $700 million funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences to support development of sac‑TMT, an antibody‑drug conjugate targeting TROP2. [27]
- The ADC is being studied in 15 late‑stage trials across six tumor types, including breast, endometrial and lung cancers.
- Blackstone funds a portion of development in return for low‑to‑mid single‑digit royalties, while Merck retains full control of development and commercialization. [28]
Taken together, these November headlines present a coherent story: Merck is deploying capital aggressively into oncology, hematology and infectious disease to build a multi‑pillar growth engine beyond KEYTRUDA.
Dividend and income profile: an upgraded payout and upcoming ex‑dividend date
Income‑focused investors following MRK’s November 30 status will care about one thing in particular: the upcoming dividend.
According to Simply Wall St’s dividend tracker and Merck’s own announcements: [29]
- The quarterly dividend has been raised to $0.85 per share, up from $0.81.
- Merck has declared a dividend for the first quarter of 2026, payable on January 8, 2026.
- The ex‑dividend date is December 15, 2025.
- At Friday’s closing price of $104.83, the new annualized payout of $3.40 per share implies a dividend yield of roughly 3.2–3.3%.
MarketBeat’s summary of Merck’s financials shows a price‑to‑earnings ratio around the mid‑teens and a payout ratio consistent with a sustainable, mature large‑cap pharma profile. [30]
For Discover‑style readers scanning stock ideas, MRK therefore screens as a relatively low‑beta, dividend‑paying blue chip with a growing payout and a clearly articulated capital‑allocation strategy.
Fundamentals: Q3 2025 results underpin the story
The recent rally and the November 30 coverage are anchored in Merck’s third‑quarter 2025 results, released on October 30: [31]
- Total sales: $17.3 billion, up 4% year‑over‑year (3% excluding currency).
- KEYTRUDA sales: $8.1 billion, up 10% (8% ex‑FX), driven by strong demand across metastatic and early‑stage cancer indications.
- Animal Health: $1.6 billion, up 9%, led by livestock products.
- GAAP EPS: $2.32 vs. $1.24 a year earlier.
- Non‑GAAP EPS: $2.58 vs. $1.57, including a $0.10 per‑share milestone charge.
- Full‑year 2025 guidance: Sales expected between $64.5 and $65.0 billion; non‑GAAP EPS guidance raised to $8.93–$8.98.
Those numbers gave analysts more confidence that Merck can keep growing earnings even as some legacy businesses (like COVID‑19 antiviral Lagevrio) decline and GARDASIL faces regional demand pressure. [32]
Institutional interest and corporate governance: mini‑tender warning and new fund buying
On the ownership and governance side, investors on November 30 are also processing two notable items:
- Mini‑tender warning:
A November 21 press release from Merck urges shareholders to reject an unsolicited “mini‑tender” offer from Tutanota LLC to purchase up to 1,000,000 MRK shares at $65 per share – a steep discount to the prevailing market price (about 25–32% below recent closes at the time of the announcement). [33]
Merck notes that mini‑tenders fall below certain SEC disclosure thresholds and can catch retail shareholders off‑guard by offering prices well below the market. - Institutional buying:
A MarketBeat report, updated over the weekend and referenced today, indicates that the New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its MRK holdings by 1.8% in the second quarter, to about 3.62 million shares worth roughly $287 million, representing about 0.15% of the company. The same piece notes that around three‑quarters of Merck’s float is owned by institutions, highlighting its status as a core large‑cap holding. [34]
Key risks still front‑and‑center
Despite the upbeat tone of much of the November 30 coverage, the main risk themes around Merck haven’t changed:
- KEYTRUDA patent expiry: Multiple reports, including the Reuters coverage of the Cidara deal, stress that Merck is racing to replace a drug that currently contributes a very large share of profits before biosimilars arrive later this decade. [35]
- Regulatory and reimbursement uncertainty: Large‑scale changes to U.S. drug pricing policy and evolving CDC/FDA postures on vaccines and preventative treatments could affect several Merck franchises, including CD388 and vaccines. [36]
- Pipeline execution: While Merck’s pipeline is deep, from HIV and hematology to next‑generation ADCs, late‑stage failures or delays could leave revenue more exposed to a KEYTRUDA cliff than bullish DCF models assume. [37]
- Litigation and IP risk: Patent disputes—such as ongoing issues over subcutaneous formulations of KEYTRUDA referenced in recent timelines—are a recurring industry reality and can affect margins and exclusivity. [38]
For stockholders, November’s upgrades and positive headlines don’t eliminate these risks; they simply suggest that, at least for now, the market is increasingly confident in Merck’s ability to manage them.
Bottom line on MRK stock as of November 30, 2025
Putting today’s picture together:
- Price: ~$105 per share, after a strong month‑long rally. [39]
- Analyst stance: Generally positive, with upgrades like Wells Fargo’s move to Overweight and consensus 12‑month targets clustering in the low‑to‑mid $100s, some as high as $155. [40]
- Strategy: A combination of acquisitions (Cidara, Verona), partnership financing (Blackstone), and internal pipeline bets across oncology, hematology, HIV and cardiovascular disease. [41]
- Income profile: A 3%+ dividend yield with a freshly raised quarterly payout and an ex‑dividend date just two weeks away. [42]
For readers encountering MRK via Google News or Discover, the November 30 story is not about a sudden, speculative spike, but about a large, profitable drugmaker whose valuation and sentiment have reset higher on the back of real earnings and tangible strategic moves.
Nothing in this article is a recommendation to buy or sell Merck stock—future returns will depend on your risk tolerance, time horizon, and view on drug‑pricing policy, oncology competition and the success of Merck’s next wave of medicines. But as of today, MRK sits in the market’s spotlight as one of the most closely watched, dividend‑paying healthcare blue chips heading into 2026.
References
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