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Merck (MRK) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Merck (MRK - Free Report) closed at $76.27, marking a -1.6% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.76% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.94%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.12%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 3.44% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector's loss of 0.52% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.74% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MRK as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 29, 2021. On that day, MRK is projected to report earnings of $1.65 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 10%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.85 billion, up 6.58% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.56 per share and revenue of $52.07 billion, which would represent changes of +10.44% and +8.5%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher. MRK is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MRK currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.82. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.32.

We can also see that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.91 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 222, putting it in the bottom 13% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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