Westfield State College Ely Library

The Mergent Online database provides access to Moody's Company Data for approximately 10,000 U.S. publicly held corporations. In addition to financial data, the database includes news and press releases, company histories, access to company SEC filings, and country statistical profiles.

 

ACCESS:	On Campus:	From the Ely Library Homepage (http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu), In the Quick Links to Databases section select Mergent Online (Moody's Company Data). Click the button Enter Mergent Online.
	Off Campus:	From the Ely Library Homepage Quick Links to Databases section, select Off Campus Access. From the Off-Campus Databases page, select Mergent Online (Moody's Company Data).   You will be prompted for your username and password.  Follow the onscreen instructions. Once in the database click the button Enter Mergent Online.

 

Search Options

BASIC SEARCH

Perform an Identifier search to find a company by it's name or ticker symbol.  Ticker symbols must be entered exactly correct.

To search for multiple companies in the same industry, perform a Classification search.  Enter an industry code (SIC, NAICS, or MIC) to retrieve data on companies in that industry.  Alternatively, you may also search for those companies comprising a given stock index.  Click the drop-down menu labeled Index to view those listings available.

To access country statistical reports, use the drop-down menu on the right of the screen labeled Country Profiles to select a country.  The report will appear in a new window

ADVANCED SEARCH

Use the Advanced Search to find companies based on multiple criteria.  The Advanced Search screen consists of three sections:

The universe is the pool of companies from which you may search.  By default, the universe is set to all U.S. companies in the database.  You may limit the universe to companies comprising popular stock indexes by clicking the checkbox next to Index and selecting the desired index from the drop-down menu. 

In this section you can create and combine multiple criteria that will be used to run the search.  Complete the following steps for each criterion you wish to include.

1.  Select a Category/Data Point and Year

Use the drop-down menus to select a category and a data point.  A different set of data points is available for each category.  Categories  and data points include:

• Corporate Information: auditor, city, country code, country of incorporation, CUSIP, legal counsel, number of employees, number of shareholders, region, state of incorporation, state, stock exchange, subsidiary, ticker, transfer agent, year incorporated, or zip code.

• Executives: officers or directors names.

• Financials: cash flow from operations, current liabilities, EBITDA, income from continuing operations, long-term debt, net income, operating income, stockholders equity, total assets, total liabilities, or total revenues.

• Industry Codes: SIC, NAICS, or MIC

• Ratios: current ratio, debt/total assets, EBITDA of revenue, effective tax rate, gross margin, interest coverage, long-term debt/equity, operating margin, pre-tax margin, profit margin, quick ratio, return on assets, return on equity, revenue to total assets, revenues/ working capital, total liabilities/equity, total liabilities/equity, or working capital/total assets.

• Textual Search: business, history, joint ventures, or property.

Select the year to which your criteria should apply.

2.  Select an Operator

Click the button of the operator most appropriate for your search.

Use Contains or Starts With for text based categories.

Use Less Than, Greater Than, Equal to, Less Than or Equal To, Greater Than or Equal To, or Does Not Equal for numerical based categories.

Use the And and Or buttons in conjunction with the operators to specify ranges.  For example, Net Income > $100K AND <$200K would be used to find companies with net income between $100,000 and $200,000.

3.  Set Search Value

Enter a value for your data point in the box labeled search value.  You may use your keyboard or the keypad displayed on the search screen.  For some data points a drop-down menu will appear above the search value box allowing you to choose from among the available values for that data point.

4.  Add to Search Criteria

As you complete the steps above, your search criteria will appear in the box labeled search build.  If the criterion is set-up correctly, click Add, otherwise click Undo to fix mistakes or Clear to start over. 

To include additional criteria for your search, repeat the steps above.

This section displays the criteria you have created.  If you are satisfied with the set-up click Run Search.

To delete a specific criterion, highlight it and click Remove.  To change a criterion, highlight it and click Edit.  To remove all criteria and start over click New Search.

EDGAR SEARCH

The EDGAR Search option provides the ability to search for a company's SEC filings. From the Basic Search screen click on EDGAR Search, the EDGAR Search screen appears. For help in EDGAR searching, see the options for Viewing EDGAR definitions, EDGAR Filing Types, and the SEC CIK Database.

Search by any combination of Company Name, Ticker Symbol, Central Index Key, Filing Date, Filing Range, and Filing Type.

Results are listed by date, most recent first, and list the Filing Type, Filing Date, and options for Viewing or Printing the document. If applicable, the option to view specific sections of a filing is available by using the drop-down menu at the right of the entry.

SEARCH RESULTS

Whether you perform a Basic or an Advanced Search, the Search Results screen provides an alphabetical listing of the company or companies that meet your search criteria.  The results screen displays the company's name, SIC, exchange, ticker symbol, status, and country of incorporation.

COMPANY DETAILS

To access a company's detailed information click on the company name.  The Company Details page provides seven standard tabs:

• Company Details - Vital statistics and contact information for the company.

• Company Financials - Selected financial statements for up to the last 15 years. Use the drop down menus to define the statement type and select a date range. Data can be viewed online or downloaded in Excel spreadsheet format.

• Create Reports - Allows the user to create custom company reports, select among various pre-defined company reports, or compare companies within an industry group.

• EDGAR - Provides the first SEC filings from the last 90 days. For coverage beyond the last 90 days, see EDGAR Search below

• News - Recent news headlines and press releases, as well as historic news.

• Research - Earnings estimates, institutional holdings, and insider holdings.

• TearSheets - One page fact sheets available for selected companies.

COMPANY COMPARISONS 

Comparisons can be made between companies based on criteria you select.

• At the Search Results screen, click the checkbox next to each company you want to compare.

• Near the upper right corner of the screen, find the Company Analysis List box and click on Expand. Check off the companies you wish to investigate.

• Click on Create Comparison Report.

• A new window will open. Select the criteria on which you wish to base the comparison.

• Step 1: Company Listing. Verify the companies selected for comparison.

• Step 2: Report Item Selection. Follow the steps to select the criteria on which to base the comparison.

• Click on Create Report

Use the Create Reports tab to select those data items you wish to save and/or print.

Click on Create Company Report, you will be asked to choose a format for the report; PDF (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader), Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel (recommended for financial data), or HTML. Regardless of your choice, the report will open in a new window.

SAVING: For all formats; click on Download in the upper right corner of the report window. At the prompt, click on Save. Select the location where the file will be saved. Click on Save.

PRINTING: PDF : Click on the icon. Microsoft Word and Excel : You must first save the report as described above, then open it in Word or Excel. When open click on File, then select Print. HTML : Right click anywhere in the report and choose Print from the menu which appears.