Short Interest in Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Grows By 38.7%

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 100,700 shares, a growth of 38.7% from the April 30th total of 72,600 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 229,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Merck KGaA Price Performance

Shares of MKKGY stock opened at $26.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.39. Merck KGaA has a one year low of $24.32 and a one year high of $39.17.

Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.09. Merck KGaA had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 10.41%. The firm had revenue of $5.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck KGaA will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Merck KGaA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.3382 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This is a boost from Merck KGaA’s previous dividend of $0.32. Merck KGaA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.64%.

About Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA operates as a science and technology company in Germany. It operates through Life Science, Healthcare, and Electronics segments. The company’s Life Science segment offers tools, chemicals, and equipment for academic labs, biotech, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as industrial sector.