Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN): Sound Shore Says the Pharmaceutical Company is Driving Innovation

Sound Shore posted 20 year annualized returns of 7.30% and 7.51% for its Sound Shore Fund Investor Class (SSHFX) and Institutional Class (SSHVX), respectively, in its Q1 2019 Investor Letter. You can download a copy of the letter here. The figures go to show that the fund outperformed both the Russel Value and the S&P 500, which posted 6.68% and 6.04% gains, respectively, in the same period. Aside from its performance, the fund commented few stocks in its portfolio, among which was Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN).

“Meanwhile, specialty pharmaceutical holding Alexion rose 38% for the quarter after the company reported solid earnings and positive new drug developments. A leader in the market for orphan drugs that focus on ultra-rare and life-threatening diseases, Alexion’s extensive research and development platform is driving innovation. We were able to purchase the stock at a below normal 14 times P/E with sustainable cash flow from long-dated patents and a promising pipeline.”

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Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a pharmaceutical company, famous for the drug it developed to treat the rare disorders – paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. The drug is called Soliris. YTD, Alexion’s stock is up by 34.31%, and on May 10th it had a closing price of $131.69. The company’s market cap is around $29.53 billion, and it is trading at a P/E ratio of 70.73.

At Q4’s end, a total of 41 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 44 hedge funds with a bullish position in ALXN a year ago. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

More specifically, Baker Bros. Advisors was the largest shareholder of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN), with a stake worth $833 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Baker Bros. Advisors was Iridian Asset Management, which amassed a stake valued at $242.9 million. OrbiMed Advisors, Palo Alto Investors, and D E Shaw were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.

Disclosure: None.

This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.