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Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -0.12%: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $118.49, marking a -0.12% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.37%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.62%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.19%.

The pharmaceutical company's stock has climbed by 11.87% in the past month, exceeding the Medical sector's gain of 4.61% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.56%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Merck in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on February 1, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.09, down 105.56% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $14.69 billion, up 6.25% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.14% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Merck currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Merck is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.92. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 14.51.

We can also see that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.61. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.82 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 70, this industry ranks in the top 28% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. 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.


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