Horizon Therapeutics Public (NASDAQ:HZNP) and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Horizon Therapeutics Public and Merck & Co., Inc.'s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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Horizon Therapeutics Public | 43.55% | 25.66% | 14.19% |
Merck & Co., Inc. | 24.33% | 53.83% | 16.83% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Horizon Therapeutics Public and Merck & Co., Inc., as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
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Horizon Therapeutics Public | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3.00 |
Merck & Co., Inc. | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 2.87 |
Horizon Therapeutics Public currently has a consensus price target of $101.8889, indicating a potential upside of 8.21%. Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus price target of $95.3571, indicating a potential upside of 27.26%. Given Merck & Co., Inc.'s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Merck & Co., Inc. is more favorable than Horizon Therapeutics Public.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Horizon Therapeutics Public and Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
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Horizon Therapeutics Public | $1.30 billion | 15.95 | $573.02 million | $1.94 | 48.44 |
Merck & Co., Inc. | $46.84 billion | 4.05 | $9.84 billion | $5.19 | 14.45 |
Merck & Co., Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Therapeutics Public. Merck & Co., Inc. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Horizon Therapeutics Public, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
88.6% of Horizon Therapeutics Public shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.9% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Horizon Therapeutics Public shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Horizon Therapeutics Public has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merck & Co., Inc. has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.