What the executives and directors of Merck & Co. actually did with their own shares, decoded from three years of SEC Form 4 filings.
The tape: three years of insider trades
Every marker sits at the exact price reported on the Form 4. The line is the monthly median of all prices insiders reported, so the chart needs no market feed; the gray strip is routine flow (vestings, tax withholding, gifts) that headlines love to miscount as selling.
Where the shares went, last 12 months
Every Form 4 movement decomposed: what flowed in (grants, vested equity, purchases) and what flowed out (tax withholding, plan sales, discretionary sales, gifts). Counted in shares, because grants carry no price.
Skin in the game
Directly held shares as reported after each trade, indexed to 100 five years back. Direct holdings only: trust and family-entity positions are per-entity in the filings and do not sum honestly, so this chart refuses to guess. The steps are the trades.
Who holds what
| Insider | Role | Shares held | Buys 12 m | Sales 12 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis Robert M Chairman, CEO & President | CEO | 456.9K | — | $5.6M |
| DeLuca Richard R. EVP&Pres, Merck Animal Heallth | Officer | 162.8K | — | $4.6M |
| Li Dean Y Executive VP & President, MRL | Officer | 96.8K | — | $3M |
| Litchfield Caroline EVP & CFO | CFO | 94.2K | — | $5M |
| Zachary Jennifer EVP, General Counsel | Officer | 72.4K | — | $14.5M |
| Guindo Chirfi EVP, Access, Policy & Comms | Officer | 62.6K | — | $4.8M |
| MIZELL STEVEN EVP, Chief HR Officer | Officer | 42.1K | — | — |
| Williams David Michael EVP,Chief Info&Digital Officer | Officer | 32.4K | — | $1.3M |
| Romanelli Joseph President, Human Health Int?l | Officer | 28.7K | — | — |
| Klobuchar Michael A EVP - Chief Strategy Officer | Officer | 24.1K | — | — |
| Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus EVP, Oncology & Int?l | Officer | 22.6K | — | $1.8M |
| Larson Betty D EVP, Chief HR Officer | Officer | 18.9K | — | — |
| Maraldo David R. EVP & Pres. MMD | Officer | 18.4K | — | — |
| Chattopadhyay Sanat Exe V-P & Pres. MMD | Officer | 16.5K | — | — |
Open-market trade log
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-12 | Guindo Chirfi (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 10K | $121.46 | $1.2M |
| 2026-02-10 | Li Dean Y (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 10.2K | $117.52 | $1.2M |
| 2026-02-09 | Guindo Chirfi (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 10K | $118.41 | $1.2M |
| 2026-02-09 | Zachary Jennifer (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 25.9K | $119.15 | $3.1M |
| 2026-02-09 | Zachary Jennifer (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 38.8K | $119.15 | $4.6M |
| 2026-02-09 | Zachary Jennifer (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 56.8K | $119.15 | $6.8M |
| 2026-02-06 | DeLuca Richard R. (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 37.7K | $120.92 | $4.6M |
| 2026-02-06 | Williams David Michael (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 5,000 | $121.91 | $610K |
| 2026-02-06 | Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 15K | $121.87 | $1.8M |
| 2026-02-05 | Guindo Chirfi (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 20K | $121.88 | $2.4M |
| 2026-02-04 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 15K | $117.38 | $1.8M |
| 2026-02-04 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 32.5K | $118.35 | $3.8M |
| 2026-02-04 | Li Dean Y (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 15.1K | $118.77 | $1.8M |
| 2026-02-04 | Litchfield Caroline (CFO) | Discretionary sale | 42K | $119.61 | $5M |
| 2026-02-04 | Smart Dalton E. III (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 2,400 | $119.68 | $287K |
| 2026-02-04 | Smart Dalton E. III (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 4,000 | $119.68 | $479K |
| 2025-11-10 | Downing Cristal N (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 7,085 | $87.00 | $616K |
| 2025-11-03 | Williams David Michael (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 8,614 | $83.59 | $720K |
| 2025-04-25 | Smart Dalton E. III (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 4,262 | $82.76 | $353K |
| 2025-02-19 | Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 8,500 | $84.09 | $715K |
| 2025-02-13 | Williams David Michael (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 6,000 | $85.34 | $512K |
| 2025-02-06 | THULIN INGE G (Director) | Open-market buy | 2,833 | $88.25 | $250K |
| 2025-02-06 | Downing Cristal N (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 2,361 | $88.76 | $210K |
| 2025-02-05 | BAKER DOUGLAS M JR (Director) | Open-market buy | 15K | $88.50 | $1.3M |
| 2024-02-14 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 85K | $125.40 | $10.7M |
| 2024-02-14 | Litchfield Caroline (CFO) | Discretionary sale | 38.3K | $125.50 | $4.8M |
| 2024-02-13 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 25.3K | $126.37 | $3.2M |
| 2024-02-13 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 124.7K | $125.74 | $15.7M |
| 2024-02-13 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 1,000 | $124.89 | $125K |
| 2024-02-09 | Li Dean Y (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 14.7K | $125.50 | $1.8M |
| 2024-02-07 | Williams David Michael (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 1,451 | $127.57 | $185K |
| 2024-02-02 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 50.7K | $126.65 | $6.4M |
| 2024-02-02 | Zachary Jennifer (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 49.5K | $126.97 | $6.3M |
| 2024-02-02 | Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 19K | $127.18 | $2.4M |
| 2023-11-09 | Oosthuizen Johannes Jacobus (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 2,081 | $102.38 | $213K |
| 2023-11-08 | DeLuca Richard R. (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 43.8K | $105.03 | $4.6M |
| 2023-08-14 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 4,250 | $109.01 | $463K |
| 2023-08-03 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 4,500 | $105.49 | $475K |
| 2023-08-02 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 30 | $107.37 | $3K |
| 2023-08-02 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 59 | $107.37 | $6K |
| 2023-05-04 | Karachun Rita A (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 15.9K | $117.53 | $1.9M |
| 2023-05-04 | Zachary Jennifer (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 19.1K | $117.59 | $2.3M |
| 2023-05-03 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Planned sale (10b5-1) | 12K | $119.01 | $1.4M |
| 2023-05-03 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Planned sale (10b5-1) | 13K | $119.01 | $1.5M |
| 2023-05-03 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Planned sale (10b5-1) | 13.4K | $119.01 | $1.6M |
| 2023-05-03 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Planned sale (10b5-1) | 15K | $119.01 | $1.8M |
| 2023-05-02 | Williams David Michael (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 7,509 | $116.82 | $877K |
| 2023-05-01 | DeLuca Richard R. (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 75.4K | $116.03 | $8.8M |
| 2023-04-28 | Davis Robert M (CEO) | Discretionary sale | 143.3K | $114.93 | $16.5M |
| 2023-04-28 | DeLuca Richard R. (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 66.2K | $115.00 | $7.6M |
| 2023-04-26 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Open-market buy | 3 | $113.68 | $341 |
| 2023-04-13 | Chattopadhyay Sanat (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 66.2K | $115.06 | $7.6M |
| 2023-04-13 | Chattopadhyay Sanat (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 67.9K | $115.07 | $7.8M |
| 2023-03-24 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 35 | $104.65 | $4K |
| 2023-03-20 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Open-market buy | 136 | $105.47 | $14K |
| 2023-02-21 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Open-market buy | 11 | $109.20 | $1K |
| 2023-02-15 | Romanelli Joseph (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 5,000 | $108.22 | $541K |
| 2023-02-13 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 1,815 | $109.10 | $198K |
| 2023-02-09 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 5,000 | $107.00 | $535K |
| 2023-02-06 | MIZELL STEVEN (Officer) | Discretionary sale | 4,436 | $104.25 | $462K |
“Since trade” compares with the latest insider-implied price, not a market quote; this site carries no market data by design.
Filing hygiene
How to read this
A Form 4 transaction code decides everything. P is an open-market purchase and S an open-market sale; those two are the only codes where an insider chose to trade. A is a grant, M an option exercise or vesting, F shares withheld to cover tax, G a gift. Most “insiders dumped billions” headlines are code F and M mechanics.
Sales flagged 10b5-1 run on a plan the insider adopted in advance; since 2023 every Form 4 carries that flag. Buys have historically predicted returns, sales mostly have not, and this page states filings, not advice.