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Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -0.25%: What You Should Know
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Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $80.98, moving -0.25% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.3%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.57%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.09%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 1.3% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 3.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.43% in that time.
MRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 4, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.36, up 17.24% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.59 billion, up 6.06% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MRK is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, MRK is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.37. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.13.
Also, we should mention that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.87. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.08 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 213, putting it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the 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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Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -0.25%: What You Should Know
Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $80.98, moving -0.25% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.3%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.57%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.09%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 1.3% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 3.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.43% in that time.
MRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 4, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.36, up 17.24% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.59 billion, up 6.06% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MRK is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, MRK is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.37. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.13.
Also, we should mention that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.87. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.08 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 213, putting it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the 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.