Billionaire Investors Are Betting on These Healthcare Stocks in Q4

#3 Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS)

Billionaires with Long Positions (as of September 30): 14

Aggregate Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September30): $3.06 Billion

Similar to what happened with Walgreens Boots Alliance, the aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings in Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) also saw only a minor decline during the third quarter, while the number of billionaires tracked by us that were long in the company went up by two during the same time. Though shares of Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) lost over 14% during the third quarter, they have recovered since then and now trade with year-to-date gains of 7.76%. On November 3 the company reported its third quarter earnings, declaring EPS of $0.50 on revenue of $1.20 billion versus analysts’ expectations of EPS of $0.40 on revenue of $1.18 billion. Following the earnings release, analysts at Piper Jaffray reiterated their ‘Overweight’ rating on the stock, while increasing their price target on it to $58 from $55. With ownership of over 41.8 million shares of the company, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square remained its largest shareholder at the end of September among the funds covered in our database.

#2 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Billionaires with Long Positions (as of September 30): 15

Aggregate Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September30): $2.76 Billion

If there was one company whose shares billionaire investors lapped up in droves during the third quarter, it has to be Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). Not only did the number of billionaires with long position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) nearly doubled quarter-over-quarter from just 8 in June, the aggregate value of billionaires” holdings in the company also saw a jump of over 40% during the same period. Moreover, all this happened in a quarter when shares of Pfizer Inc. went down by 5.6% and in a year when they have largely remained range bound. Pfizer recently announced that it would acquire Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN) for $160 billion. While rumors of this deal had been floating around for quite some time, the formal announcement came in only on November 24 and ever since the deal has drawn a lot of criticism from lawmakers and regulators due to the tax loophole it allegedly intends to exploit. D.E. Shaw & Co, founded by billionaire David E. Shaw, more than doubled its stake in the company to nearly 10.4 million shares during the third quarter.

#1 Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN)

Billionaires with Long Positions (as of September 30): 26

Aggregate Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September30): $10.8 Billion

Finally, since it has been a hot favorite among billionaire investors for the past few quarters, it’s not a surprise that Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN) was the favorite healthcare of billionaire investors at the end of third quarter. However, the actual surprise lies in the fact that Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN) continued to gain popularity among billionaire investors in a quarter when its stock suffered a more than 10% drop. Between the start and end of the third quarter, the number of billionaire investors tracked by us with ownership in the company jumped by 2 and the aggregate value of their holdings also saw a meager jump of $14 million. Owing largely to the rumors of the Pfizer deal that started doing rounds in late-November, the stock of Allergan PLC has climbed up significantly since then and currently trades with year-to-date gains of 23.33%. On December 2 analysts at Leerink Swann reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, while upping its price target to $393 from $355. Richard Gerson and Navroz D. Udwadia‘s Falcon Edge Capital was one of the hedge funds that increased its stake in the company during the third quarter; it held 592,542 shares of Allergan PLC, as of September 30.

Disclosure: None