5 Biotech Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ken Fisher

1. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) operates as a healthcare company. At the end of the third quarter of 2021, Fisher Asset Management owned 10.6 million shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) worth $798 million. 

Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison has an Equal Weight rating on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stock with a price target of $82. In a recent investor note, the analyst noted that Merck was likely to face tough competition in the vaccine market as a new virus variant spread. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Boston-based investment firm Arrowstreet Capital is a leading shareholder in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) with 6.5 million shares worth more than $493 million. 

In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Artisan Partners highlighted a few stocks and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)  was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“In Q1, we initiated a position in Merck, a provider of health care solutions including prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health and consumer care products. We purchased Merck when the stock came under pressure in part on concerns that the newly minted Biden administration could implement regulatory changes and lower drug costs in the pharmaceutical industry. Recent, but anticipated changes to Merck’s management team have also weighed on shares, as have concerns over the company’s heavy reliance on immunotherapy treatment Keytruda. Notably, Merck is not getting much credit from investors for the 60+ programs it has in clinical development, despite having several solid and large new product opportunities. Additionally, the company’s strong balance sheet and robust free cash flow provide it multiple options for future partnerships and acquisitions. While Merck is undergoing a period of transition, we think the company’s fundamentals are strong and believe changes to management should be a catalyst for improvement.”

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