Short Interest in Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Declines By 90.1%

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 9,648 shares, a drop of 90.1% from the June 30th total of 97,736 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 82,218 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Merck KGaA Stock Performance

MKKGY stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $31.64. 41,656 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,923. Merck KGaA has a 12 month low of $23.73 and a 12 month high of $34.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.14. Merck KGaA had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 8.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.93 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MKKGY shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised Merck KGaA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Merck KGaA in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck KGaA 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.