Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) in a research report issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Price Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:MKKGY traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $29.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,241. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.97. Merck KGaA has a 52-week low of $23.73 and a 52-week high of $31.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.31 and a 200 day moving average of $27.68.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.14. The firm 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 8.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck KGaA will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.