Compare
MRK vs NVS
TheDesperateTrader.com· Side-by-side stock comparison
$MRK vs $NVS head to head: price, market cap, valuation, dividend, free float, relative volume and how actively each trades. The bigger value in the size rows is bolded. Tap either ticker for its live chart, full ownership breakdown and real-time alerts.
$146.63
Price
$140.32
-0.2%
Day change
-0.0%
$362.35B
Market cap
$285.63B
—
P/E ratio
—
2.32%
Dividend yield
3.38%
2.46B
Free float
1.90B
90.94%
Institutional
6.84%
10.2M
Avg volume
2.0M
3.1x
Rel. volume
1.1x
87% of 52w
52-week range
38% of 52w
91
Scanner alerts 30d
80
PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS
Sector
Pharmaceutical Preparations
MRK vs NVS: the quick read
- ·MRK is the larger company by market cap ($362.35B vs $285.63B).
- ·MRK has been more active on our scanner (91 vs 80 alerts in 30 days).
- ·NVS has the smaller float (1.90B vs 2.46B), which tends to mean sharper, more volatile moves.
- ·These sit in different industries (PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS vs Pharmaceutical Preparations), so they answer to different catalysts and a move in one says little about the other.
- ·Both stay busy on our scanner, 91 and 80 unusual-volume alerts over 30 days, so neither is the quiet one here.
- ·They are closely matched in size, within 27% of each other on market cap, which makes the rest of this table the interesting part.
- ·Both pay a dividend, so this is one of the few pairs here where yield is a fair tiebreaker.
- ·MRK is the one in play today, trading about 3.1x its normal volume, which is what puts a name on our scanner in the first place.
Objective differences only. Not investment advice.
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Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know comparing MRK and NVS on TheDesperateTrader.
- Is MRK or NVS the better stock?
- "Better" depends on your goal, and these two are not alike. MRK is the larger company by market cap ($362.35B vs $285.63B). MRK has been more active on our scanner (91 vs 80 alerts in 30 days). NVS has the smaller float (1.90B vs 2.46B), which tends to mean sharper, more volatile moves. Those are the measured differences, not a recommendation, and nothing here is investment advice.
- What is the difference between MRK and NVS?
- The differences that matter: they are not in the same business - MRK is pharmaceutical preparations and NVS is pharmaceutical preparations; they are similar in size ($362.35B vs $285.63B); they trade at very different share prices ($146.63 vs $140.32); MRK sits at 87% of its 52-week range against 38% for NVS; our scanner flagged MRK 91 times in the last 30 days against 80 for NVS. Everything above is measured from the latest completed session and SEC filings.
- Which of MRK and NVS is more active right now?
- Right now MRK is at about 3.1x its normal volume and NVS is at about 1.1x, so MRK is the one drawing unusual attention today. Relative volume (RVOL) compares a stock's volume to its own recent average, so it reads the same way for a megacap and a microcap and is the quickest way to tell which of two similar names is actually in play.
- Is this comparison data live?
- Prices and % changes are anchored to the latest completed session and split-adjusted, so a reverse split never shows as a fake move. Float is estimated from SEC filings and refreshed as new filings publish.
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