Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company released its “Columbia Dividend Opportunity Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Equity markets rose again in the third quarter, helping most major indices finish near record levels in September. The fund’s investments rose across all sectors except energy, where stocks were pressured by falling crude oil prices. The fund returned 9.51% in the quarter compared to the MSCI USA High Dividend Yield Index–Net’s 9.42% return. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.
Columbia Dividend Opportunity Fund highlighted stocks like Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a healthcare company that operates through Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The one-month return of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was -2.48%, and its shares gained 0.98% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 25, 2024, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stock closed at $101.16 per share with a market capitalization of $255.898 billion.
Columbia Dividend Opportunity Fund stated the following regarding Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“On the downside, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the largest detractor from relative performance. The company experienced some demand headwinds in China for Gardasil, its vaccine to prevent cancer from HPV, which weighed on its shares, given that the country represents Merck’s largest market for the drug. The fund’s holdings in the large-cap bank stocks Wells Fargo and Bank of America, which both performed well in the first half of the year, turned lower in the most recent quarter and dampened results.”
A close-up of a person’s hand holding a bottle of pharmaceuticals.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 86 hedge fund portfolios held Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) at the end of the third quarter which was 96 in the previous quarter. Merck & Co., Inc.’s (NYSE:MRK) third quarter revenue was $16.7 billion, an increase of 4% or 7% excluding the impact of foreign exchange. While we acknowledge the potential of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and shared the list of most promising cancer stocks according to hedge funds. Oakmark Funds added Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to its portfolio in the third quarter due to its promising long-term growth prospects. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.