Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Raised to Hold at Sanford C. Bernstein

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) was upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Stock Down 4.5%

MKKGY opened at $23.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.76 and its 200 day moving average is $27.58. Merck KGaA has a fifty-two week low of $23.76 and a fifty-two week high of $31.00.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $6.11 billion during 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 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.