Reviewing Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) and Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY)

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) and Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Merck KGaA and Corcept Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merck KGaA	13.92%	10.07%	5.92%
Corcept Therapeutics	12.96%	15.19%	11.93%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Merck KGaA and Corcept Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merck KGaA	$22.57 billion	0.82	$3.00 billion	$2.51	11.45
Corcept Therapeutics	$761.41 million	5.00	$99.65 million	$0.82	43.62

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Merck KGaA and Corcept Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merck KGaA	0	3	0	0	2.00
Corcept Therapeutics	2	2	4	0	2.25

Corcept Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $77.17, indicating a potential upside of 115.73%. Given Corcept Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Corcept Therapeutics is more favorable than Merck KGaA.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Merck KGaA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Corcept Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 20.5% of Corcept Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Merck KGaA has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corcept Therapeutics has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Corcept Therapeutics beats Merck KGaA on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA operates as a science and technology company in Germany. It operates through Life Science, Healthcare, and Electronics segments. The company’s Life Science segment offers tools, chemicals, and equipment for academic labs, biotech, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as industrial sector. This segment provides drug manufacturers with process development expertise and technologies, such as continuous bioprocessing; testing kits and services; reagents and services; testing solutions that analyze air, water, and soil; and testing and tools, as well as products that help test nutritional value and identify quality inconsistencies. Its Healthcare segment discovers, develops, manufacturers, and markets prescription drugs and biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of oncology, neurology and immunology, fertility, endocrinology, as well as cardiovascular, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and multiple sclerosis; general medicines; and injection device and disease monitoring software. The Electronics segment supplies materials for the semiconductor and display industries and surface design, such as delivery systems and services, as well as surface solutions, including cosmetics, effect pigments, and functional solutions. In addition, it has in-licensing agreement with Debiopharm International SA for developing and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of head and neck cancer; Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for developing, manufacturing, and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer; and Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. for developing and commercializing of drug candidates for the treatment of tenosynovial giant cell tumor, as well as license and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA to discover two targeted protein degraders against critical oncogenic proteins. The company was founded in 1668 and is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany. Merck KGaA operates as a subsidiary of E. Merck KGaA.

About Corcept Therapeutics

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated engages in discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic, and neurologic disorders in the United States. It offers Korlym tablets medication for the treatment of hyperglycemia secondary to hypercortisolism in adult patients with endogenous cushing's syndrome; and who have type 2 diabetes mellitus or glucose intolerance and have failed surgery or are not candidates for surgery. The company is also developing relacorilant, which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of cushing's syndrome; treatment for adrenal cancer and cortisol excess which is in phase 1b clinical trial; treatment for prostate cancer which is in phase II clinical trial; and nab-paclitaxel in combination with relacorilant, which is in phase III clinical trial to treat platinum-resistant ovarian tumors. In addition, it develops dazucorilant, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; miricorilant, which is in phase IIb trial for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and treatment for antipsychotic induced weight gain that is in phase I trial. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.