Merck & (MRK) Stock Buybacks: 20.0% of Shares Retired Since 2010

Name: Merck & (MRK) shares outstanding since 2010, split adjusted
Creator: Buyback Radar
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Shares outstanding, 2010 to todaysplit adjusted, from SEC filings

2010, 3,083,080,6972026-07-31, 2,467,171,638

A share bought in 2010

1.2× more of Merck & today, without buying another share. It was one of 3,083,080,697 shares then. It is one of 2,467,171,638 now.

Every filing we read16 fiscal years, split adjusted

Fiscal year	Date	Shares outstanding	Filing
2010	2011-01-31	3,083,080,697	10-K
2011	2012-01-31	3,044,008,396	10-K
2012	2013-01-31	3,022,367,538	10-K
2013	2014-01-31	2,940,622,461	10-K
2014	2015-01-31	2,838,192,933	10-K
2015	2016-01-31	2,775,258,591	10-K
2016	2017-01-31	2,745,571,067	10-K
2017	2018-01-31	2,696,190,502	10-K
2018	2019-01-31	2,581,220,308	10-K
2019	2020-01-31	2,536,268,760	10-K
2020	2021-01-31	2,530,315,668	10-K
2021	2022-01-31	2,527,733,606	10-K
2022	2023-01-31	2,538,592,467	10-K
2023	2024-01-31	2,532,643,872	10-K/A
2024	2025-01-31	2,526,036,240	10-K
2025	2026-01-31	2,472,392,003	10-K

Source: all 10-K filings of Merck & on EDGAR. Download this series as CSV. Licence CC BY 4.0, credit Buyback Radar.

Merck & buybacks, answered

Is Merck & buying back its stock?

Yes. Merck & has 0.6% fewer shares outstanding than twelve months ago, 2,467,171,638 as of July 31, 2026. Over five years the share count is down 2.3%.

How many shares has Merck & bought back?

Net of every new share it issued, Merck & has 615.9 million fewer shares than at its 2010 peak. That is 20.0% of the company.

How many shares does Merck & have outstanding?

2,467,171,638 shares, as of July 31, 2026, from the cover page of its latest 10-Q. At the 2010 peak it had 3,083,080,697.

What do Merck &'s buybacks mean for a shareholder?

Each share is a bigger slice of the company. Someone who held Merck & stock in 2010 owns 1.2 times as much of the business today without buying another share. Whether that was a good use of cash depends on the price paid.

How does Merck & compare with other cannibal stocks?

Merck & ranks No. 217 of 251 companies on Buyback Radar by share of the company retired since its peak. Close to it on the list: Morgan Stanley (20.6%), Baxter International (20.4%), Old Dominion Freight Line (19.8%), Mattel (19.7%).

Every answer is computed from Merck &'s own SEC filings and rebuilt every Monday. Latest count: 10-Q on EDGAR.