To $285.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Valeant upped to buy by Barclays
Barclays upgraded Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) from Equalweight to Overweight with a price target of $29.00 (from $20.00).
Cigna Set To Disrupt Commercial Risk Market, Goldman Sachs Says In Upgrade
Insurer CIGNA Corporation CI 2.4% is poised to sustain share gains in the U.S. commercial risk market, according to Goldman Sachs.
The Analyst
Analyst Stephen Tanal upgraded shares of Cigna from Neutral to Buy and increased the price target from $193 to $212, suggesting more than 24-percent upside.
The Thesis
Tanal projects market share gains for Cigna on the basis of the following factors:
- The absence of a major commercial risk business to protect.
- A nationwide value-oriented provider network is in place.
- Upside is expected from potential new commercial risk business wins.
If Cigna successfully closes the Express Scripts Holding Co ESRX 2.22% acquisition, Tanal said Cigna’s market share gains in the commercial risk space will accelerate due to its improved ability to manage the pharmacy trend. (See the analyst’s track record here.)
The above factors could help Cigna grow its commercial risk book with little incremental investment of resources, the analyst said.
Goldman estimates the addressable profit pool for commercial risk at $21-$41 billion in aggregate.
Each 100-basis point market share gain at half the estimated margin rate of the industry would mean $100 million to $200 million in pre-tax profit, equaling 2-5 percent of Goldman’s 2018 pre-tax estimate for Cigna.
“We believe CI’s ability to continue taking share will be supported by its ability to sell its track record of best in class medical cost management,” Tanal said.
United Natural Foods raises FY18 adj EPS view to $3.18-$3.23 from $3.06-$3.14
FY18 consensus $3.10. Raises FY18 revenue view to $10.23B-$10.28B from $10.01B-$10.16B, consensus $10.1B.
Apollo Medical names Eric Chin CFO
Apollo Medical Holdings announced the appointment of Eric Chin as the company’s new CFO effective July 1, 2018. Chin will be replacing Mihir Shah, who has served as ApolloMed’s CFO for the past two years. Additionally, the company has decided to eliminate the position of president, currently held by Gary Augusta, and transfer those duties to ApolloMed’s Co-CEOs, Warren Hosseinion, M.D. and Thomas Lam, M.D. Augusta will remain as a member of ApolloMed’s board of directors. Chin has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Network Medical Management, Inc., one of the company’s subsidiaries, since March 2018.
Medicines Co. started at buy by B. Riley
The Medicines Co. initiated with a Buy at B. Riley FBR. B. Riley FBR analyst Madhu Kumar started The Medicines Co. with a Buy rating and $55 price target. The analyst believes the company has a “disruptive” cholesterol drug with “de-risked safety.”
Xencor started at buy by BTIG
Xencor initiated with a Buy at BTIG. BTIG analyst Dane Leone started Xencor with a Buy rating and $56 price target. The analyst is optimistic for the use of XmAb5871 in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus into the Phase 2 read-out during the second half of 2018. Further, he believes the commercialization of Xencor’s partner assets, ALXN1210 and MOR208, should help support its cash flow for the next several years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)