Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Competitors

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. has higher revenue and earnings than Amgen. Merck & Co., Inc. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amgen, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merck & Co., Inc.	$63.62B	3.43	$17.12B	$6.49	13.46
Amgen	$33.42B	4.76	$4.09B	$12.23	24.16

Do insiders and institutionals believe in MRK or AMGN?

76.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.5% of Amgen shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Merck & Co., Inc. shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Amgen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is MRK or AMGN more profitable?

Merck & Co., Inc. has a net margin of 25.79% compared to Amgen's net margin of 18.96%. Amgen's return on equity of 174.71% beat Merck & Co., Inc.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merck & Co., Inc.	25.79%	41.05%	16.55%
Amgen	18.96%	174.71%	13.12%

Is MRK or AMGN a better dividend stock?

Merck & Co., Inc. pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Amgen pays an annual dividend of $9.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc. pays out 49.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amgen pays out 77.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Merck & Co., Inc. has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Amgen has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Merck & Co., Inc. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amgen has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate MRK or AMGN?

Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus target price of $104.31, indicating a potential upside of 19.38%. Amgen has a consensus target price of $309.42, indicating a potential upside of 4.74%. Given Merck & Co., Inc.'s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Merck & Co., Inc. is more favorable than Amgen.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merck & Co., Inc.	1 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Amgen	1 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35

Does the media refer more to MRK or AMGN?

In the previous week, Merck & Co., Inc. had 25 more articles in the media than Amgen. MarketBeat recorded 81 mentions for Merck & Co., Inc. and 56 mentions for Amgen. Merck & Co., Inc.'s average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Amgen's score of 1.12 indicating that Merck & Co., Inc. is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Merck & Co., Inc.	69 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Amgen	36 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Merck & Co., Inc. beats Amgen on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.