Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Among Hedge Funds’ Favorite Pharma Stocks

64 filers in our database were long Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Johnson & Johnson’s business has been growing, though some future growth is already baked in at a trailing P/E of 20. George Soros’s hedge fund Soros Fund Management disclosed ownership of 2.5 million shares in its 13F (see more stocks the fund likes).

Leading hospital company HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) grabbed the seventh slot on our list, even though a number of funds- including Highbridge Capital Management, run by billionaire Glenn Dubin- dumped all of their shares. Growth has been only modest, though the stock is arguably a value play at low earnings multiples.

Generic drug company Actavis Inc (NYSE:ACT), which is currently in the process of acquiring Warner Chilcott and relocating to Ireland, saw a good deal of buying from the funds in our database during Q2. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global was among the hedge funds buying in (check out more picks from Viking Global).

Placing tenth on our list is health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), at 57 filers. Health insurers are generally cheap as markets expect slow profits growth over the next several years, and also account for the uncertainty of future regulation. With UnitedHealth doing well last quarter, it may be worth considering in value terms.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.