Portfolio Cuts Couldn’t Stop HealthInvest From Buying Up These Stocks

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX)

– Shares Owned by HealthInvest Partners AB (as of September 30): 280,000

– Value of HealthInvest Partners AB’s Holding (as of September 30): $1.77 Million

The Stockholm-based fund run by Carl Bennet and Anders Hallberg acquired a 280,000-share stake in Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) during the third quarter, which was valued at $1.77 million on September 30. The oncology company, which develops innovative medicines and other products for targeting and treating cancer, has seen the value of its shares fall by 16% this year. Progenics Pharmaceuticals recently licensed its first commercial drug, Relistor, a drug used to treat opioid-induced constipation, to Salix Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of embattled Canadian drug maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc. (NYSE:VRX). In July, the FDA approved the tablet form of the drug to treat constipation brought on by taking opioids for chronic, non-cancer pain, which resulted in a $50 million-development milestone payment from Valeant. Progenics is also entitled to receive as much as $200 million in milestone payments tied to sales of the drug. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management trimmed its position in Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) by 22% during the three-month period ended September 30, to 107,663 shares.

Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM)

– Shares Owned by HealthInvest Partners AB (as of September 30): 135,900

– Value of HealthInvest Partners AB’s Holding (as of September 30): $17.03 Million

HealthInvest Partners AB lifted its holding in Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) by 42,000 shares during the September quarter, to 135,900 shares. The position was worth $17.03 million at the end of the quarter and accounted for 12.7% of the value of the firm’s U.S. public equity portfolio. In late-July 2015, Anthem agreed to acquire CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) in a cash-and-stock deal worth around $48 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Cigna’s shareholders are set to receive $103.40 in cash and 0.5152 Anthem shares should the deal go through. In late-July of this year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the health-insurance deal on antitrust grounds. Should the multi-billion-dollar merger deal fall apart, Anthem would need to pay Cigna a $1.85 billion-breakup fee according to their merger agreement. Anthem has seen its market capitalization fall by 12% since the start of the year. Beech Hill Partners, led by Paul Cantor, Joseph Weiss, and Will Wurm, reported owning 66,625 shares of Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) through the current round of 13F filings for the September quarter.

The final page of this article will discuss HealthInvest Partners AB’s two most valuable public equity holdings as of September 30.