Petmed Express Inc (NASDAQ:PETS), the largest pet pharmacy in the U.S., reported weaker-than-expected Q2 financial results that missed on both earnings and revenue. Excluding a one-time $1.7 million charge for an IT-related discontinued project, Q2 net income fell to $3.8 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, from $4.2 million, or $0.21 per diluted share in the year-ago period. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.22 per share. Net sales decreased 4.8% to $57.6 million in Q2, missing the consensus of $61.28 million. The company's online sales in Q2 were approximately 80% of all sales, compared to 79% for Q2 2013. PETS' board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, unchanged relative to the previous dividend announcement. The dividend will be paid on November 14 to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 3. Petmed Express Inc (NASDAQ:PETS) shares are moving within a 52-week spread of $12.13 - $16.83.MEDNAX Inc (NYSE:MD), a provider of physician services, including newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric subspecialties and anesthesia care, said Monday that it has acquired Houston Perinatal Associates, P.A., a private physician group practice based in Houston, Texas. The practice will become part of MEDNAX Inc (NYSE:MD) Pediatrix Medical Group division. Houston Perinatal Associates provides services including obstetrics and delivery, ultrasounds, prenatal diagnosis, medical and surgical complications of pregnancy, as well as the management of multiple gestations. In addition, the practice provides maternal-fetal medicine services to three Houston metropolitan area hospitals and one surgery center, as well as telemedicine services to patients in Lufkin, Texas. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. No additional terms of were disclosed.Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Sanofi (SNY) said Monday a license application for the companies' investigational pediatric hexavalent vaccine to treat six diseases was accepted for review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If approved, it would be the first pediatric vaccine to help protect against six diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio types 1, 2 and 3, disease cause by Haemophilus influenza type B and hepatitis B.In a phase III study, the drug, known as DTaP5-IPV-Hib-HepB1, was given to infants ages 2, 4 and 6 while other children received Sanofi Pentacel 2 and Merck's Recombivax HB treatments that are already licensed. All but one of the comparisons showed the investigative drug antibodies were non-inferior to those of the licenses products. Adverse reactions to the investigative product included irritability, crying and drowsiness, and were mostly in line with those of the control doses. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is trading between a 52-week range of $44.62-61.33.
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