Two Healthcare-Focused Funds Buy More Shares Of 2 Promising Companies, While Activist Cashes Out Of IT Company

According to a separate 13D filing, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners ceased to beneficially own more than 5% in Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC). The activist hedge fund firm reported owning 5.71 million shares in the provider of information technology (IT) services, which represent 4.1% of the company’s shares. This denotes a decrease of 1.63 million shares from the position revealed through the latest round of 13Fs. JANA Partners also praised the recent steps taken by the IT company’s Board of Directors and management, which includes their decision “to separate its global commercial business from its U.S. public sector unit”. On November 4, CSC’s Board approved the separation of its U.S public sector business under the name CSRA Inc., including a special cash distribution of $10.50 for each CSC share owned. The separation is set to be completed via a one-for-one pro rata distribution of CSRA shares to CSC’s equity holders. Meanwhile, the shares of the company are almost 11% in the green year-to-date.

Several hedge funds observed by Insider Monkey found the stock more appealing during the third quarter, as the number of hedge funds with positions in the IT company grew to 34 from 28 quarter-over-quarter, amassing 14.50% of the company’s outstanding common stock. Even so, the value of their stakes declined to $1.23 billion from $1.59 billion during the three-month period. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management represents another hedge fund firm that owns a sizable position in Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) as of September 30, holding 1.71 million shares.

As stated in an amended 13D filing, Baker Bros. Advisors, founded by Julian Baker and Felix Baker, purchased a 1.26 million-share block of shares in Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) over the past 60 days and currently holds 37.54 million shares. The freshly-upped stake accounts for a whopping 26.9% of the company’s outstanding common stock. The biotechnology company, which focuses on the development of targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer, generated revenue of $243.3 million for the nine-month period that ended September 30, compared to $212.4 million reported for the same period of last year. This increase is attributed to the increase in sales from the company’s marketable product ADCETRIS, which added up to $163.0 million for the first nine months of 2015, compared with $131.7 million registered for the same period of 2014. The shares of the biotechnology company are 37% in the green year-to-date despite being caught in the August broader market sell-off and the healthcare sell-off that occurred at the end of September.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN)’s stock has gained some popularity among the hedge funds tracked by the Insider Monkey team, considering that the number of top money managers invested in the company climbed to 21 from 16 during the September quarter. These hedge fund vehicles had stockpiled slightly more than 43% of the company’s outstanding common stock on September 30, while the value of their investments grew to $2.09 billion from $1.62 billion quarter-over-quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group acquired a 3.42 million-share stake in Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) during the third quarter.

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