Top 5 Healthcare Bets of World-Class Baker Bros. Advisors

#3 Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of September 30): 6.54 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $1 Billion

Like the two stocks mentioned previously, Baker Bros. Advisors also didn’t make any changes to its stake in Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) during the third quarter. Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) have largely remained range-bound this year, but went through an inverted U-shaped move between July and October; thanks to the over 10% gains made in the last three trading sessions, shares are now trading flat for the year. On Tuesday, the company announced that the FDA has approved its treatment for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency, Kanuma. On December 3, analysts at Cowen and Company reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating and $216 price target on the stock. Renaissance Technologies, founded by billionaire Jim Simonsm made a 50-fold increase to its stake in Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. during the July-to-September period, to 689,542 shares .

#2 Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of September 30): 36 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $1.39 Billion

Baker Bros. Advisors increased its stake in Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) by 16% during the third quarter and as of September 30 owned over 25% of the outstanding shares of the company. Other hedge funds were not far behind in their bullishness, as the number of funds in  our database that reported owning a stake in the company also jumped to 21 by the end of September from 16 at the end of June. Owing largely to the rise that shares of Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) experienced during the first-half of the year, not even a recent 20% decline from their highs could prevent them from still trading up by 25% year-to-date. Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group initiated a stake in Seattle Genetics, Inc. during the July-to-September quarter, purchasing over 3.2 million shares.

#1 Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of September 30): 19.47 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $2.15 Billion

Finally, Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) continued to remain Baker Bros.’ top equity pick as of September 30, with the firm also buffing its stake by 31% during the third quarter. Shares of Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) saw a sharp rally during the first four months of the year, but have remained range-bound since then and currently trade with year-to-date gains of 50.6%. In the last few months there has been rumor going around the Street that pharmaceutical behemoth Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) could be interested in acquiring Incyte Corporation. This could be a reason why the number of hedge funds tracked by us that were long Incyte jumped by five quarter-over-quarter, while the aggregate value of their holdings in the company increased by almost 40%. After Baker Bros. Advisors, Samuel Isaly‘s Orbimed Advisors was the largest shareholder of Incyte Corporation in our database at the end of September; it increased its stake in the company by 19% to 2.74 million shares during the third quarter.

Disclosure: None