Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Alyeska Investment Group, managed by Anand Parekh, established the most valuable position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). Alyeska Investment Group had $75.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management also initiated a $15.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MRK positions are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP, and Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). These stocks are Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), and Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to MRK’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GILD | 89 | 4515136 | -1 |
| PEP | 58 | 6708390 | 1 |
| CMCSA | 83 | 8778819 | 3 |
| MDT | 57 | 2103409 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 72 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $5.53 billion. That figure was $2.55 billion in MRK’s case. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) is the least popular one with only 57 bullish hedge fund positions. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard GILD might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: none
