Merck & Company

MRK

Merck & Co., Inc., d.b.a. Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the United States and Canada, is an American multinational pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Merck is incorporated in New Jersey.In 1887 a German-born, long-time Merck employee, Theodore Weicker, went to the United States to represent the Darmstadt firm. In 1891, with a capital of $200,000 received from E. Merck, Weicker started the American Merck & Co, with headquarters in lower Manhattan. That year George Merck, the twenty-three-year- old son of the then head of E. Merck (and grandson of the founder) joined Weicker in New York. The company was established as the United States subsidiary of the German company Merck, which was founded in 1668 by the Merck family. Merck & Co. was expropriated by the US government during World War I and subsequently established as an independent American company in 1917. While it operates as Merck & Co. in the United States and Canada, the original Merck based in Darmstadt holds the rights to the Merck name everywhere else.

Merck & Company has been a target of short sellers for a while. The current short interest of 1.23% is roughly at the average of the last 12 months (1.19%).