Insider trade

Officer sold ~$4.47M of MRK shares in the open market

Traded Aug 5, 2026 · Filed Aug 7, 2026

MerckMRK

~$4.47M
Reported value · 35K sh @ $128.7707: 32K
Holds after · shares reported: +12.1%
stock since the trade · S&P 500 -0.8%, $128.33 → $143.81 on Oct 1

Why it stands out

Merck's Chief Info&Digital Officer sold $4.47M of Merck shares. Nobody planned it ahead of time.

Written from the filing's own figures. OQRO describes what was reported and never tells you what to buy or sell

View the official recordSEC Form 4 — Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership

All the details

Dates, kept separate

Transaction date: Aug 5, 2026
Reporting period: Not applicable
Filed with the SEC: Aug 7, 2026

Officer$1M+

Context

Classification

open market sale

Code S — open-market or private sale

Absolute commitment

~$4,468,987

Shares × reported transaction price

Timing vs results

1 day after results of Aug 4, 2026

Results dates are the company's own 8-K (Item 2.02). Many companies only let insiders trade in a window after results

Price at the time

Closed at $128.33 on Aug 5, 2026, within 3% of its 52-week high, after a 7% rise over the previous 30 trading days

52-week range $77.60 (Sep 25, 2025) to $131.82 (Jul 28, 2026), 94% of the way up, from 251 adjusted closes. 30 trading days earlier: $119.60 on Jun 23, 2026. Describes the past only, not a forecast

Planned / mechanical clue

None found in footnotes

Only flagged when a footnote says so; never inferred

Securities lawsuit open at the trade date

A securities lawsuit naming the company as a defendant was filed on Feb 12, 2025 in the U.S. District Court, D. New Jersey. A filing is an allegation, not a finding.

IN RE MERCK & CO., INC. SECURITIES LITIGATION, docket 2:25-cv-01208, via CourtListener (court records). Nature of suit 850, company named as first defendant

FDA decision near the trade

FDA approved Keytruda on Jul 10, 2026, 26 days before this trade.

New use approved (efficacy supplement). Active ingredient: Pembrolizumab. From openFDA. Dates only; no link between the two is implied

After it was reported

After	Stock	S&P 500	Difference
7 days	+3.9%	-0.1%	+3.9%
30 days	+12.7%	-1.4%	+14.1%

Past results only. Not a forecast.

Source receipt

Record ID: 0000310158-26-000214
Filed / recorded: Aug 7, 2026, 8:19 PM UTC
Added to OQRO: Oct 2, 2026, 3:52 AM UTC
Parser: form4-xml-v1
Data quality: Verified: identifiers matched exactly
Issuer: Merck & Co., Inc.
Issuer CIK: 310158
Ticker: MRK
Reporting person: David Michael Williams
Relationship: Officer
Officer title: EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer
Security: Common Stock
Table: Non-derivative (Table I)
Transaction date: Aug 5, 2026
Transaction code: S
Shares / units: 34,705
Price per share: $128.7707
Acquired / disposed: Disposed (D)
Shares owned after: 31,716.037
Ownership form: Direct
Amendment: No

Footnotes from the filing

The price reported is a weighted average price. These shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $128.7050 to $128.9700, inclusive. The reporting person undertakes to provide to Merck & Co., Inc., any security holder of Merck & Co., Inc., or the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon request, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price within the range set forth above in this footnote.