Quant Picks: 4 Pharmaceutical Companies to Add to Your Porfolio

With Shire offering to acquire Baxalta for more than $30 billion, we decided to check TheStreet Quant Ratings for stocks in the pharmaceuticals sub-sector that would be good investments. Baxalta manufactures drugs which treat rare diseases. Some of the diseases those drugs help treat are for immune deficiencies and rare bleeding disorders. Shire is based in Dublin, and it is using its tax-friendly prominence to acquire a U.S. based company. It is a bio-pharmaceutical company that researches, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells pharmaceutical products. Investors have benefited from the abundance of mergers and acquisitions in the industry this year. Pharmaceutical company deals are motivated by the desire to beef up the new drug pipeline and streamline heavy research costs. Here are some of the best pharmaceuticals our algorithm says you should consider looking at. Number 4 is Pfizer. With an 'A-' rating, the company's strengths can be seen in its solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins. 3rd is, Novartis AG. This rating is also an 'A-.' Novartis thrives in its solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins. 2nd is Johnson and Johnson. This too has an 'A-' rating. The company flourishes in its increase in net income and expanding profit margins. Number 1 is Novo Nordisk. With an 'A' rating, the company's strengths can be seen in its increase in net income and notable return on equity. TheStreet Ratings are algorithmic stock picks based on 32 major data points. S&P 500 stocks rated 'buy' yielded a 16-and-a-half-percent return in 2014, beating the S&P 500 Total Return Index by more than 300 basis points. For the full reports on these stocks, you can check out TheStreet.com/QuantRatings.