Short Interest in Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Drops By 25.8%

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 82,383 shares, a drop of 25.8% from the February 26th total of 110,989 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 434,341 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Merck KGaA Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of OTCMKTS:MKKGY opened at $24.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96. Merck KGaA has a 1 year low of $23.73 and a 1 year high of $31.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.54.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.19). Merck KGaA had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.20 billion. Analysts predict that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MKKGY. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Merck KGaA has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, commonly referred to as Merck Group, is a multinational science and technology company with origins dating back to 1668. The company develops and manufactures products and technologies across healthcare, life science and electronics applications. It is distinct from the U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co; Merck KGaA is a European group headquartered in Darmstadt and is publicly listed in Germany with an OTC American depositary receipt available under the symbol MKKGY.

Merck’s Healthcare business develops prescription medicines and related services focused on areas such as oncology, immunology, neurology (including therapies for multiple sclerosis) and fertility.