HomeCompareZEN vs MRK

ZEN vs MRK: Dividend Comparison 2026

ZEN yields 2.58% · MRK yields 2.81%● Live data

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After 10 years · $10,000 invested · DRIP enabled
🏆 MRK wins by $34.2K in total portfolio value
10 years
ZEN
ZEN
● Live price
2.58%
Share price
$77.48
Annual div
$2.00
5Y div CAGR
0%
Payout ratio
50%
After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP
Portfolio value
$23.5K
Annual income
$304.92
Full ZEN calculator →
MRK
Merck & Co. Inc.
● Live price
2.81%
Share price
$118.10
Annual div
$3.32
5Y div CAGR
32.7%
Payout ratio
50%
After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP
Portfolio value
$57.7K
Annual income
$10,113.78
Full MRK calculator →

Portfolio growth — ZEN vs MRK

📍 MRK pulled ahead of the other in Year 1

Annual dividend income

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Recession Test — Did They Cut Dividends?

How each stock treated shareholders during the 3 biggest crises of the last 20 years

Crisis PeriodZENMRK
2008–2009
GFC
— No data— No data
2020 Q1–Q2
COVID
— No data— No data
2022 Q4
Rate Hike
— No data— No data
Based on dividend payment history. "Increased" = dividend grew during crisis. "Maintained" = held within 3%. "Cut" = reduced by more than 3%.
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Dividend Calendar Overlap

Combined, ZEN + MRK cover 0 of 12 monthsgood coverage

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
ZEN pays
MRK pays
Both pay
Neither
💰

Tax Bracket Optimizer

Which stock is actually better after tax? Adjust your rate to find out.

ZEN
Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)
$219.41/yr
After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)
$259.18/yr
MRK
Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)
$238.95/yr
After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)
$8,596.71/yr
At 15% tax rate, MRK beats the other by $8,337.53/year in after-tax income after 10 years on $10,000
⚖️

Lazy Portfolio Split Optimizer

What's the optimal mix of ZEN + MRK for your $10,000?

ZEN: 50%MRK: 50%
100% MRK50/50100% ZEN
Portfolio after 10yr
$40.6K
Annual income
$5,209.35/yr
Blended yield
12.82%
📊

Analyst Conviction Gap

Where Wall Street is most bullish on MRK right now

ZEN
Analyst Ratings
12
Buy
18
Hold
Consensus: Hold
Price Target
$109.06
+40.8% upside vs current
Range: $77.50 — $170.00
MRK
Analyst Ratings
24
Buy
12
Hold
1
Sell
Consensus: Buy
Price Target
$128.54
+8.8% upside vs current
Range: $100.00 — $150.00
Altman Z
4.0
Piotroski
6/9
Analyst ratings via FMP. Altman Z-Score: >3.0 safe, 1.81–3.0 grey zone, <1.81 distress. Piotroski: 7–9 strong, 0–3 weak.
🏛️

Copy Congress — What Are Politicians Buying?

Senate & House STOCK Act disclosures (last 90 days)

ZEN buys
0
MRK buys
8
PoliticianChamberTickerTypeAmountDate
Josh Gottheimer🏢 House$MRK▲ Buy$1,001 - $15,0002026-02-04
Michael McCaul🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$15,001 - $50,0002026-01-13
Gilbert Cisneros🏢 House$MRK▲ Buy$1,001 - $15,0002025-12-19
Julie Johnson🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$1,001 - $15,0002025-12-18
Julie Johnson🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$1,001 - $15,0002025-11-13
Ro Khanna🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$1,001 - $15,0002025-09-29
Val Hoyle🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$1,001 - $15,0002025-09-23
Marjorie Taylor Greene🏢 House$MRK▲ Buy$1,001 - $15,0002025-08-28
Julie Johnson🏢 House$MRK▼ Sell$1,001 - $15,0002025-08-14
Gilbert Cisneros🏢 House$MRK▲ Buy$1,001 - $15,0002025-08-05
STOCK Act mandates disclosure within 45 days of transaction. Data via FMP.Full tracker →
MetricZENMRK
Forward yield2.58%2.81%
Annual dividend / share$2.00$3.32
Payout ratio50%50%
1-year div growth0%0%
5-year div CAGR0%32.7%
Portfolio after 10y$23.5K$57.7K
Annual income after 10y$304.92$10,113.78
Total dividends collected$2.8K$29.8K
Payment frequencyquarterlyquarterly
SectorStockHealthcare
Analyst consensusHoldBuy
Analyst price target$109.06$128.54

Year-by-year: ZEN vs MRK ($10,000, DRIP)

YearZEN PortfolioZEN Income/yrMRK PortfolioMRK Income/yrGap
1← crossover$10,958$258.13$11,213$373.04$255.00MRK
2$11,990$264.36$12,667$512.06$677.00MRK
3$13,099$270.32$14,439$708.14$1.3KMRK
4$14,292$276.01$16,640$988.16$2.3KMRK
5$15,574$281.45$19,432$1,394.07$3.9KMRK
6$16,951$286.63$23,057$1,992.90$6.1KMRK
7$18,429$291.56$27,889$2,894.79$9.5KMRK
8$20,015$296.25$34,518$4,286.29$14.5KMRK
9$21,717$300.70$43,912$6,494.35$22.2KMRK
10$23,542$304.92$57,714$10,113.78$34.2KMRK

ZEN vs MRK: Complete Analysis 2026

ZENStock

Zendesk, Inc., a software development company, provides software as a service solutions for organizations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. Its flagship product is Zendesk Support, a system for tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets across various channels. The company also offers Zendesk Chat, a live chat and messaging software to connect with customers on websites and mobile devices applications; Zendesk Talk, a cloud-based call center software; Zendesk Guide, a knowledge base that powers customer self-service and support agent productivity; Zendesk Gather, a community forum software that allows customer end-users to connect and collaborate; Zendesk Explore, which provides analytics for organizations to measure and enhance the customer experience; and Zendesk Sell, a sales customer relationship management (CRM) product solution to enhance productivity, processes, and pipeline visibility. In addition, it provides Zendesk Sunshine, a CRM platform; Sunshine Conversations, a messaging platform solution; Zendesk Developer Tools, a combination of application programming interfaces, web widget, and mobile software development kits; Zendesk APIs that allow users to build custom integrations and interact with Zendesk data; and Zendesk Apps that enable organizations to customize Zendesk product and platform solution interfaces and optimize workflow through plug-ins, as well as Zendesk Suite, an omnichannel offering, which combines its solutions. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Full ZEN Calculator →

MRKHealthcare

Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Ridgeback Biotherapeutics; and Gilead Sciences, Inc. to jointly develop and commercialize long-acting treatments in HIV. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

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⚠️ Educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Congressional trades sourced from SEC STOCK Act filings via FMP. Past performance does not guarantee future results.