Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY)

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Stock Performance

Shares of Merck KGaA stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.72. 2,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 116,241. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.46. Merck KGaA has a 12 month low of $23.73 and a 12 month high of $31.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.31 and its 200 day moving average is $27.68. The stock has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.97.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck KGaA will post 1.83 EPS for the current 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.