Using Mergent Online

Description / Accessing / Basic Searching / Advanced Searching / Edgar Search /
Managing Results / Emailing, Saving, and Printing

Description   (return to the top)
This database contains information on the following:
-U.S. Company Data: An Internet-accessible subscription service covering 10,000 public companies and their SEC filings
-International Company Data: More companies from more countries than any other international database, with global searching across databases
-U.S. Annual Reports Easy-to-access current and historical annual reports on 10,000 U.S. public companies, all in PDF image format that provides faster download and allows viewing the document
-International Annual Reports Hard-to-get, timely annual reports on all companies in our International Company Data database, available in PDF image formats

Accessing Mergent Online - (return to the top)
Use internet Explorer to access this database
1. Go to the Pace University Library Homepage at http://library.pace.edu
2. Click on Articles via Databases
3. From the Complete Database Listings drop-down menu, select Mergent Online
4. From the database description page, click on Connect to Database or Mergent Online
5. Click on in the top left corner

When accessing Mergent Online remotely, in order to access company Highlights, History, Joint Ventures, Business, Property, Subsidiaries, Long Term Debt, Executives and Capital Stock, use the Create Reports option.

Basic Searching (return to the top)
A basic search for company information allows you to search by company name or ticker symbol. If you know it, use the ticker symbol of the company for which you are searching.

Advanced Searching (return to the top)
Advanced Searching is more appropriate when you are not certain what company you are searching for and only have certain characteristics in mind.
There are 4 main steps to an Advanced Search in Mergent:
-Select a Category / Subcategory
-Select Operator
-Set Value
-Add Criterion

Select a Category / Subcategory
First select a category of information from the drop-down menu and this choice will affect your subcategory choices. These are the category choices:
-Executives: This category allows you to search for the name of a Director or Officer of the Company.
-Financials: This option allows you to set a numerical value which matches the financial situation of companies, including Cash Flow from Operations; Long Term Debt; Net Income; Total Assets; Total Revenue and more.
-General Company Information: This option allows you to specify general company characteristics such as City, Number of Employees, State, Year Incorporated/Founded and more.
-Industry Codes: Select companies by SIC or NAIC code.
-Ratios: Select from a number of financial ratios including Profit Margin.
-Textual Search: This allows a word search to be made within the Business, History, Joint Ventures and Property information for the company.

Select Operator
Make sure to select an operator. For example, if you are typing in a number of employees - you need to tell the database whether you want it to retrieve companies that have a greater number of employees than the number you selected or less than that number. If you have typed a city, state, name, or word then you would select the operator equal to.

Set Value & Add Criterion
Set Value is where you actually type in the information for which you are searching. You must then click on Add Criterion to add this to your search. It will then add this information to the search Box under # 5. (You may specify more than one criterion to your search.) Click on Search in the bottom right corner when you are ready for your results.

Edgar Search (return to the top)
This search allows you to search for SIC filings from a specific company and of a specific type or from a specific time period.
(Select EDGAR Definitions or EDGAR Filing Types to learn more about SIC filings.)
These documents will appear in Microsoft Word or Text versions. Click on the version you would like to view.

Managing Results (return to the top)
If you have selected a specific company, you will find that the information is organized by tabs. The main tabs are:
-Company Details: There is a tremendous amount of information under this section, including Financial Highlights; History; Joint Ventures; Business (Summary); Property; Subsidiaries; Long Term Debt; Executives; and Capital Stock.
-Company Financials
-Create Reports: This feature allows you to take information from different sections and create your own specialized report available for viewing, printing, or downloading in Microsoft Excel, Word, or PDF. Use this feature to access information from off-campus
-EDGAR: SEC Filings in Text, Word, or EXCEL format
-News: Current news stories about the company
-Annual Reports: Available in PDF
-Research: Earnings Estimates, Institutional Holdings and Insider Holdings.
-Portraits: Equity and Corporate Bond Reports - Select a report to view. Emailing Reports option is available.
-TearSheets: Click on Factsheets to view this synopsis in PDF

Emailing, Saving, and Printing (return to the top)
Most of the information in Mergent is not available for emailing, however much of it can be downloaded or saved in Microsoft Word or Excel and sometimes PDF. Printing can be done by selecting print in the browser window - for some information it is best to download to Word, Excel, or PDF and then print. Email it to yourself as an attachment after Saving.