Here’s Why You Should Consider Acquiring Merck (MRK) Shares

Chartwell Investment Partners, an asset management company, released its second quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. For the second quarter, Chartwell-managed accounts fell in line with their respective index benchmarks, however, the Chartwell Dividend Model outperformed by a significant margin versus its benchmark. Go over the fund’s top 5 positions to have a glimpse of its finest picks for 2022.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Chartwell Investment Partners mentioned Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1891, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a Kenilworth, New Jersey-based multinational pharmaceutical company with a $221.6 billion market capitalization. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) delivered a 14.18% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 19.79%. The stock closed at $87.51 per share on September 22, 2022.

Here is what Chartwell Investment Partners has to say about Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“In the Dividend Equity accounts, the three best performers in Q2 includes Merck (NYSE:MRK, 3.6%), up 12.0%. Merck, like other pharma companies, is in a defensive business, but the stock also did well as peak-sales estimates for their flagship drug, Keytruda, have gone up (JPMorgan estimates $32 billion in sales by 2026).”

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Our calculations show that Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was in 79 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 84 funds in the previous quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) delivered a -4.88% return in the past 3 months.

In August 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q2 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.