There’s a lot to be optimistic about in the Healthcare sector as 2 analysts just weighed in on Alnylam Pharma (ALNY) and Portola Pharma (PTLA) with bullish sentiments.
Alnylam Pharma (ALNY)
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Alethia Young reiterated a Buy rating on Alnylam Pharma today and set a price target of $135. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $76.05, close to its 52-week low of $71.85.
Young noted:
“. We are reiterating our Overweight rating and $135 price target. We believe that early trends from the launch are in line with our expectations. We are staying with Alnylam as a top franchise pick in 2019, and are not worried about launch trends that are really too early to read into in a new market it is building. Not surprising, investors paid the closest attention to the new start number that was 125 patients after about 7 weeks of launch. We think that this number of new starts is solid for hATTR amyloidosis, a disease for which there haven’t been many therapies to treat these patients. We also think that Alnylam has been very clear that this is a market that the new players would have to build.”
According to TipRanks.com, Young is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 5.0% and a 48.3% success rate. Young covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Puma Biotechnology, and Intercept Pharma.
Alnylam Pharma has an analyst consensus of Strong Buy, with a price target consensus of $144.58, representing a 90.1% upside. In a report released yesterday, Cowen & Co. also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $147 price target.
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Portola Pharma (PTLA)
Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson maintained a Buy rating on Portola Pharma today and set a price target of $30. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $19.06, close to its 52-week low of $18.18.
Olson noted:
“PTLA introduced its new CEO and provided a business update in the context of 3Q results. Andexxa revenue at $7.7M was ahead of $6.0M consensus and our $6.2M estimate resulting in a better-than-expected EPS of $(1.06) compared to $(1.60) consensus and our $(1.55) estimate. However, commentary on the conference call leads us to make a number of important changes to our model including: 1) removing all Bevyxxa revenues; 2) slowing the ramp of Andexxa, 3) lowering the peak sales of Andexxa, and 4) increasing expenses. In summary these changes lead to decreased earnings estimates resulting in our new, lower, DCF-based $30 PT (from $60 prior) while maintaining our Outperform rating.”
According to TipRanks.com, Olson has 0 stars on 0-5 star ranking scale with an average return of -4.5% and a 40.3% success rate. Olson covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc, Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, and Conatus Pharmaceuticals.
Portola Pharma has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $39.20.
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