Kahn Brothers’ Top Stock Picks: Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) Overtakes Citigroup Inc. (C) as Top Holding

#2. New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT)

– Number of shares owned by Kahn Brothers as of March 31: 3.89 Million

– Value of Kahn Brothers’ holding as of March 31: $48.44 Million

Kahn Brothers owned 3.89 million shares of New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT) at the end of the March quarter, 38,967 shares less than at the end of the December quarter. The quarter-end stake was valued at $48.44 million and made up 9.1% of the New York-based hedge fund’s equity portfolio. The newspaper publisher appears to have been successful in offsetting the continued decline of its print business with various digital initiatives. The company’s circulation revenues increased 2.4% in the first quarter of this year, with its digital subscription growth and a print home-delivery price increase for the Times overshadowing the declining number of print copies sold. In the first quarter of 2016, New York Times acquired digital marketing agency HelloSociety LLC for $12.3 million in an attempt to boost digital advertising revenue, which fell 1.3% in the first quarter. New York Times shares are 7% in the red year-to-date. Charles Lemonides’ Valueworks LLC has 378,202 shares of New York Times Co (NYSE:NYT) in its equity portfolio as of March 31.

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

– Number of shares owned by Kahn Brothers as of March 31: 985,419

– Value of Kahn Brothers’ holding as of March 31: $52.14 Million

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the largest equity holding in Kahn Brothers’ equity holding at the end of the March quarter, comprised of 985,419 shares worth $52.14 million. The New York-based investment firm had 25,508 shares more in its equity portfolio at the end of December than at the end of March. The U.S. drug giant may pursue a number acquisitions this year that may not necessarily involve just cancer drugmarkers. In January 2016, Merck & Co acquired a privately-held UK-based drug discovery company, called IOmet Pharma Ltd, which focuses on developing innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer. Just recently, Merck & Co raised earnings per share and revenue guidance for 2016. The company anticipates EPS in the range of $3.65-to-$3.77 per share on revenue of $39 billion-to-$40.2 billion, as compared to the previous EPS guidance of $3.60-to-$3.75 per share on revenue of $38.7 billion-to-$40.2 billion. The stock is up 2% year-to-date. Stockholm-based HealthInvest Partners AB, founded by Anders Hallberg and Carl Bennet, acquired a new stake of 251,400 shares of Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the March quarter.

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