Hedge funds and other institutional investors have secured shares of numerous pharmaceutical companies’ stock in recent quarters.
Merck & Co. is one offering that’s proved popular. The company’s more than 130-year history has included conducting research relating to oncology, vaccines, infectious diseases, cardio-metabolic disorders, immunology, and neuroscience. Today, it provides prescription medicine, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health-related products.
In the third quarter of 2024, Armistice Capital acquired a new position in Merck & Co.; while no shares of the biopharmaceutical company were listed in the Securities and Exchange Commission 13F form the hedge fund filed for the June 30 reporting date, Armistice Capital’s Sept. 30 filing showed it had obtained 182,794 shares of Merck & Co.’s stock.
Other institutional investors also gained a new stake in Merck & Co. in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s new position was valued at roughly $32,000, MarketBeat reported in January. AM Squared Ltd also purchased Merck & Co. shares during the quarter, which were worth approximately $34,000.
The new position Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC obtained in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter, per MarketBeat, was valued at $34,000; Peterson Financial Group Inc.’s new stake reportedly had a value of approximately $36,000.
Merck & Co. has developed a number of prominent medical treatments — including GARDASIL, a vaccine designed to help prevent cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers and precancerous or dysplastic lesions caused by several types of HPV, and Keytruda, an immunotherapy that works with a patient’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
In the past year, the company has continued to expand its list of offerings through efforts such as the exclusive global license agreement it entered into with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Hansoh Pharma in December 2024 — which will allow Merck to develop, manufacture and commercialize HS-10535, an investigational preclinical oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist.
The demand for glucagon-like peptide-1 medications, also known GLP-1 medications, has been significant in recent years. The type 2 diabetes drugs can improve blood sugar control and may also result in weight loss. In the past four years, the number of patients in the U.S. who began taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, were overweight or obese but did not have diabetes increased by more than 700%, according to results from a study published in The BMJ.
Nine analysts have given Merck & Co.’s stock a buy rating, according to MarketBeat; and four have issued a strong buy rating for the company.
Further Pharma Investments
In addition to Merck & Co., a number of institutional investors upped their previous position or obtained a new stake in pharmaceutical companies such as Immunovant and PTC Therapeutics in recent months.
Institutional investors, according to MarketBeat, own more than 47% of Immunovant, Inc’s stock — which nine analysts have given a buy recommendation.
The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company produces autoimmune disease-related treatments. Its IMVT-1402 second-generation antibody and fully human monoclonal antibody batoclimab have been studied for the possible treatment of Graves’ disease and other conditions.
Armistice Capital grew its position in Immunovant by 57% in the second quarter of 2024 with the purchase of 1,232,909 shares of the company’s stock. The hedge fund’s 3,396,909 shares were estimated to have a worth of about $89,678,000, according to MarketBeat.
Currently, Armistice Capital owns 3,548,000 shares of Immunovant’s stock — 4% more than in the second quarter, due to the purchase of an additional 151,091 shares, according to Nasdaq data and Armistice Capital’s Sept. 30 13F form.
In the third quarter, FMR LLC grew its stake in Immunovant by nearly 20% when it added 2,053,688 shares of the company’s stock, according to MarketBeat, for a total of 12,537,571 shares — an almost 20% increase.
Principal Financial Group Inc. also grew its ownership of Immunovant, increasing its total number of shares of the company’s stock by 69.9% with the purchase of an additional 391,436 shares.
Institutional investors also added shares of PTC Therapeutics, which develops rare disease-related therapies.
Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased an additional 643,960 shares of the company’s stock in the third quarter of 2024, bringing its total to 575,860 shares, a 946% increase, MarketBeat said in January.
Armistice Capital increased its holdings in the second quarter, adding 198,227 shares of PTC Therapeutics’ stock to raise its total number of shares 2.9% to 6,962,227 shares. The quarterly 13F form Armistice Capital filed for the Sept. 30 reporting date states the fund now owns 7,234,898 shares of the company’s stock.
PTC Therapeutics’ work has involved creating treatments for disorders such as aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency, which affects the brain; the inherited metabolic disease phenylketonuria; and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which occurs when a mutation in the dystrophin gene prevents the cell from making a functional dystrophin protein.
The company’s stock has received a buy rating from eight research analysts, according to MarketBeat. One has given PTC Therapeutics’ stock a strong buy rating.
