Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company.

MKKGY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Merck KGaA in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised Merck KGaA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th.

Merck KGaA Price Performance

MKKGY stock opened at $33.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.09. Merck KGaA has a 52 week low of $23.73 and a 52 week high of $34.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.93 billion. Merck KGaA had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 8.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck KGaA Company Profile

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.