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.

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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.

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