Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -0.21%: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK) closed at $82.17, marking a -0.21% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.38%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.12%.
Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 3.14% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 2.06%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.12%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 4, 2021. On that day, MRK is projected to report earnings of $1.35 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 16.38%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $12.59 billion, up 6.06% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK should also be noted by investors. 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.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.02% higher. MRK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, MRK is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.56. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.94.
It is also worth noting that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.89. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.06 as of yesterday's close.
The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 124, which puts it in the top 49% 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 & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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