Merck (MRK) closed the most recent trading day at $79.14, moving -0.4% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.15%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.38%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.05%.Coming into today, shares of the pharmaceutical company had gained 3.45% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 11.91%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.66%.Merck will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 3, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.41, up 6.82% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.62 billion, up 0.84% from the year-ago period.Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Merck should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.58% higher within the past month. Merck is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Merck has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.37 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.68.Investors should also note that MRK has a PEG ratio of 1.42 right now. 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. MRK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.93 as of yesterday's close.The Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, putting it in the bottom 36% 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.Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions. Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double" From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all. As one investor put it, “curing and preventing hundreds of diseases…what should that market be worth?” This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.