Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX): Partner Fund Management’s Winning Bets in Healthcare and Tech

The stock of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), a specialty pharmaceutical company, delivered returns of 38.8% during the first quarter of 2015. The company’s full year 2014 revenues increased by 43% in year-on-year terms to $8.3 billion, with the same store sales witnessing an organic growth of 13% during the same period. The company forecasts the same store sales organic growth of 10% to 15% for the first quarter of 2015. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) announced the acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals for a total enterprise value of over $14.5 billion or $158.00 per share in cash, in February. According to the latest 13F filing, Mr. James decreased the fund’s stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) by 24% during the fourth quarter of 2014 to 1.3 million shares valued at $180.4 million. Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital and Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global are among other big shareholders shareholders in the company, owning 19.4 million shares and 9.1 million shares respectively.

The stake in Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing and commercializing anti-cancer agents, represented 2.3% of the fund’s portfolio with 1.7 million shares valued at $96.6 million. The fund increased the exposure to Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS) by 36% in the fourth quarter of last year, while the stock appreciated by 32.55% during the first three months of 2015. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has approved Breakthrough Therapy designation for the company’s Rucaparib, which is being developed to treat the patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Among the hedge funds we track, William Leland Edwards‘ Palo Alto Investors owns 2.10 million shares, valued at $117.76 million.

Mr. James boosted his fund’s stake in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) by 498% during the fourth quarter of 2014, holding 3.3 million shares valued at $88.3 million at the end of last year. The investment paid off, as the stock rallied 23.5% in the first quarter of 2015, while over the last 52 weeks it is up by 56.5%. The company’s revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 grew by 6.6% on the year to $652.8 million. Adjusted earnings per share rose 15.4% on a year on year basis to $0.39 in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36. Among the funds that we track, Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital holds the largest long position that contains 34.15 million shares as of the end of 2014.

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