Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $30.4260, but opened at $32.21. Merck KGaA shares last traded at $32.0375, with a volume of 1,768 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MKKGY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Merck KGaA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Merck KGaA in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck KGaA currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Merck KGaA Trading Up 3.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.14. Merck KGaA had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 12.07%.The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. On average, equities analysts expect 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.