Merck (MRK) Stock Moves -1.68%: What You Should Know

Merck (MRK) closed the most recent trading day at $81.58, moving -1.68% from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 3.39%. At the same time, the Dow lost 3.58%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.1%.

Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had lost 3.33% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.65%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.8%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MRK as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 28, 2020. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.40, up 14.75% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $11.97 billion, up 10.69% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.72 per share and revenue of $49.82 billion, which would represent changes of +10.21% and +6.36%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MRK. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.3% higher within the past month. MRK is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note MRK's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 14.5. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.9.

We can also see that MRK currently has a PEG ratio of 2.12. 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. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, which puts it in the top 31% 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.

To follow MRK in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.