Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (PTX): Billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management Ups Its Stake

According to a recent 13G filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, billionaire Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management owns more than 3.72 million shares of Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTX), which amass 5.8% of the company’s outstanding stock. This is significantly more compared to 1.05 million shares Point72 Asset Management disclosed in its last 13F filing (for the end of 2015).

On Monday, the market reacted positively to Cohen initiating , sending Pernix’s stock as high as 70% in pre-market, as traders are trying to piggyback on the move. Pernix Therapeutics is scheduled to release its financial results on Thursday and analysts are currently projecting a net loss of $0.06 per share, higher than the loss of $0.11 reported a year earlier and revenue of $44.55 million, which represents an estimated growth of nearly 32% on the year.

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTX) is a pharmaceutical company that works on developing products for somewhat neglected therapeutic areas, such as central nervous system, counting both psychiatry and neurology. Over the past 12 months, the company’s shares have dropped by 88.75%. At the end March, Brean Capital reiterated its “Buy” rating and $5.00 price target on the stock.

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 14 reported long positions in this stock, at the end of December, with Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital holding the biggest position worth about $18 million in stock, and Behzad Aghazadeh’s venBio Select Advisor holding the second most valuable position, worth around $15.2 million. Remaining professional money managers that have reported long positions include  Dennis Purcell’s Aisling Capital and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

However the number of funds long the stock declined by three during the fourth quarter. Among the investors who lost interest in Pernix Therapeutics and sold off their positions are Steven Boyd’s Armistice Capital, which cut the biggest stake, valued at $15.2 million in stock and Dov Gertzulin’s DG Capital Management, which unloaded about $2.2 million worth of stock.

You can access the original SEC filing by clicking here.

Ownership Summary Table

Page 1 of 9 – SEC Filing