Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -0.37%: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $82.63, moving -0.37% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.37%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.92%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.02%.

Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 3.2% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.77%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.31%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MRK as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect MRK to post earnings of $1.45 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.97%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.01 billion, down 3.12% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.69 per share and revenue of $47.79 billion, which would represent changes of +9.63% and +2.03%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.21% lower. MRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.56. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 14.46, so we one might conclude that MRK is trading at a premium comparatively.

Meanwhile, MRK's PEG ratio is currently 2.16. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.02 at yesterday's closing price.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 174, putting it in the bottom 32% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) - free report >>

Published in