MRK vs. LLY, JNJ, ABBV, PFE, BMY, ZTS, RPRX, JAZZ, CORT, and PRGO
Should you be buying Merck & Co., Inc. stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Merck & Co., Inc. include Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AbbVie (ABBV), Pfizer (PFE), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Zoetis (ZTS), Royalty Pharma (RPRX), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), Corcept Therapeutics (CORT), and Perrigo (PRGO). These companies are all part of the "pharmaceuticals" industry.
Merck & Co., Inc. vs.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and media sentiment.
Eli Lilly and Company received 222 more outperform votes than Merck & Co., Inc. when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.63% of users gave Eli Lilly and Company an outperform vote while only 66.98% of users gave Merck & Co., Inc. an outperform vote.
Eli Lilly and Company has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merck & Co., Inc. has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Eli Lilly and Company has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Merck & Co., Inc.. Merck & Co., Inc. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eli Lilly and Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Eli Lilly and Company pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Merck & Co., Inc. pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Eli Lilly and Company pays out 56.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Merck & Co., Inc. pays out 67.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Eli Lilly and Company has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Merck & Co., Inc. has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Merck & Co., Inc. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
In the previous week, Eli Lilly and Company had 44 more articles in the media than Merck & Co., Inc.. MarketBeat recorded 126 mentions for Eli Lilly and Company and 82 mentions for Merck & Co., Inc.. Merck & Co., Inc.'s average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat Eli Lilly and Company's score of 0.90 indicating that Merck & Co., Inc. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Eli Lilly and Company has a net margin of 20.48% compared to Merck & Co., Inc.'s net margin of 19.23%. Eli Lilly and Company's return on equity of 71.08% beat Merck & Co., Inc.'s return on equity.
82.5% of Eli Lilly and Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Eli Lilly and Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Eli Lilly and Company currently has a consensus target price of $1,002.22, indicating a potential upside of 35.07%. Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus target price of $123.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.89%. Given Eli Lilly and Company's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Eli Lilly and Company is more favorable than Merck & Co., Inc..
Summary
Eli Lilly and Company beats Merck & Co., Inc. on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NYSE:MRK) was last updated on 1/21/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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