.jpg "Portola Pharma Receives a Buy from Oppenheimer")
Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson reiterated a Buy rating on Portola Pharma (NASDAQ: PTLA) yesterday and set a price target of $80. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $40.97.
Olson noted:
“ASCO and EHA abstracts for cerdulatinib posted online providing incremental insights into the promising profile of this under-appreciated asset. Cerdulatinib is an orally available dual-kinase inhibitor for hematologic malignancies. We believe cerdulatinib has potential to benefit patients with FL, CLL/SLL and PTCL based on clinical data contained in ASCO and EHA abstracts featuring results with 99 patients from an ongoing Ph2a trial of cerdulatinib in B-cell malignancies and PTCL. We see cerdulatinib as an overlooked, well-differentiated asset with impressive preliminary data that should deliver incremental shareholder value. We expect to see updated cerdulatinib data at ASCO and EHA based on more recent data cuts. Our theoretical SOTP valuation includes $4/sh for cerdulatinib, which we believe could increase post- ASCO and EHA.”
According to TipRanks.com, Olson has currently no stars on a ranking scale of 0-5 stars, with an average return of -2.8% and a 43.0% success rate. Olson covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc, Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, and Conatus Pharmaceuticals.
Currently, the analyst consensus on Portola Pharma is Strong Buy and the average price target is $60.80, representing a 48.4% upside.
In a report issued on May 4, Cowen & Co. also assigned a Buy rating to the stock with a $65 price target.
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The company has a one-year high of $67.10 and a one-year low of $30.10. Currently, Portola Pharma has an average volume of 1.6M.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 41 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of PTLA in relation to earlier this year. Most recently, in March 2018, John Curnutte, the EVP of PTLA bought 5,049 shares for a total of $42,917.
TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.
Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. engages in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics in the areas of thrombosis and other hematologic disorders, and inflammation. Its development-stage portfolio consists of the compounds including Betrixaban, a novel oral once-daily inhibitor of Factor Xa in phase three clinical trials for extended duration prophylaxis, or preventive treatment of a form of thrombosis known as venous thromboembolism, in acute medically ill patients; Andexanet alfa, a recombinant protein designed to reverse anticoagulant activity in patients treated with a Factor Xa inhibitor; and Cerdulatinib, an orally available kinase inhibitor that inhibits spleen tyrosine kinase and janus kinases, enzymes that regulate important signaling pathways. The company was founded by Charles J. Homcy and David R. Philips on September 2, 2003 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA.
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