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

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

Merck KGaA Stock Performance

OTCMKTS MKKGY opened at $24.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Merck KGaA has a 1-year low of $23.73 and a 1-year high of $31.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKKGY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.