We recently published a list of 10 Value Stocks in Ken Fisher’s Portfolio. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stands against other value stocks in Ken Fisher’s portfolio.
Trump’s “stupid” tariffs will fail; that’s the sentiment echoed by billionaire investor Ken Fisher as their impact continues to be felt far and wide. Fisher, the brains behind Fisher Asset Management joins a growing list of institutional investors concerned that tariffs will lower growth and raise inflation at a time of weakening consumer sentiment. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has already warned that the U.S. could be headed to an “economic nuclear winter” as a result of the tariff policy rollout, costing Trump the confidence of business leaders.
While major indices have pulled back significantly amid deep selloff in various sectors, Trump insists on staying in the race to remake the global trade order. Stocks are already on the brink of plunging into bearish territories amid recession concerns. The global stock market has lost trillions of dollars since Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on every nation that exports products to the US. Stock indices abroad have also felt the brunt, dropping by more than 10%, as it becomes clear an extended trade war is the biggest threat to the global economy.
Amid the growing concerns, Fisher insists the pitfalls of the ravaging trade war are passing wind that will fade and fail.
“What Trump unveiled Wednesday is stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools,” Fisher wrote on social media platform “X.” “Yet, as near as I can tell it will fade and fail and the fear is bigger than the problem, which from here is bullish.”
How true that is, is still an open discussion as Trump stays put even as reciprocal tariffs come into play. China has already responded with an 84% tariff on US goods in response to the US imposing more than 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The back-and-forth spat threatens to affect the global trade order, causing heightened jitters in the equity markets.
According to Fisher, the deep selloff on fears of a full-blown trade could be outsized compared to the issues around the policy itself. Consequently, the billionaire investor expects the market to bounce back and rally once the selloff dust settles.
“The fear is bigger than the problem can be,” Fisher continued. “Single period stock market comparisons are always iffy, but it may well be this goes something like the 1998 stock market correction leading to a 26% annual return.”
Even as investors turn their attention to safe havens in the race to store wealth, value stocks remain resilient. The top value stocks in the Fisher Asset Management portfolio stand out because they are well-established companies. The fact that they are undervalued due to the ongoing market correction amid the trade war presents an exciting opportunity. Additionally, the stocks are spread across various sectors, from financials to healthcare to consumer cyclical and technology.
Our Methodology
We combed Fisher Asset Management’s Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the 10 value stocks in Ken Fisher’s portfolio. We chose stocks that are trading at a forward P/E of less than 20 and are part of industries including energy, financials, and healthcare, among others. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of Fisher Asset Management equity stakes in the stocks while also outlining hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of Q4 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): Among Value Stocks in Ken Fisher’s Portfolio
A close-up of a person's hand holding a bottle of pharmaceuticals.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a healthcare company that focuses on delivering innovative solutions through prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. It also has a presence in Life Science and Electronics, equipment, and services sectors. While the stock has pulled back significantly, it remains a top-value stock in Ken Fisher’s portfolio as it is trading at a low price-to-earnings multiple of 8.49.
On April 8, Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) even as it cut its price target to $103 from $129. The bullish stance stems from growing optimism that the company’s Animal Health division, which generated a record $6 billion in revenues in 2024, will remain a key growth driver
In addition, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has moved to reinvigorate its growth metrics with a $493 million licensing deal with Austria-based drug delivery technology maker Cyprumed on April 15. The deal paves the way for the company to unlock new growth opportunities around oral tablets. Merck obtains the opportunity to exclusively license the technology for additional specific targets in addition to nonexclusive worldwide rights to Cyprumed’s oral peptide delivery platform for an unspecified number of targets.
Overall, MRK ranks 8th on our list of value stocks in Ken Fisher’s portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential of 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 time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MRK but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
