Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Stock Rating Upgraded by HSBC

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) was upgraded by analysts at HSBC to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

MKKGY has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Merck KGaA in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Price Performance

Merck KGaA stock opened at $31.98 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.00. Merck KGaA has a one year low of $23.73 and a one year high of $34.19.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.14. Merck KGaA had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 12.07%.The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.93 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 EPS 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.