Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Short Interest Update

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) saw a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 293,910 shares, an increase of 220.8% from the May 31st total of 91,604 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 140,159 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKKGY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Merck KGaA in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck KGaA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Price Performance

OTCMKTS MKKGY traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $33.29. 168,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 79,210. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.15 and a 200-day moving average of $28.43. The stock has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.02. Merck KGaA has a 52 week low of $23.73 and a 52 week high of $33.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.14. Merck KGaA had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 12.07%.The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. Analysts expect that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current 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.