Five Cheap Healthcare Stocks With Hedge Fund Support

#4 Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP)

 – Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 24

 – Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $143.8 million

Amid a 7% increase in Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP)’s stock during the fourth quarter, the number of investors covered by us with long positions in the stock came down by seven. However, the aggregate value of their holdings in the company increased by $9.2 million during the same time. On March 18, shares of the company plunged after it had disclosed in an 8-K filing that it has exchanged its convertible debt (7.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2019) at a significant discount (an implied share price of $2.47) to its current stock price. Including these losses, shares of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) have lost almost half of their value so far this year. On March 16, analysts at Citigroup reiterated their ‘Neutral’ rating on the stock and cut their price target to $4 from $7, which represents a potential upside of around 38% from the stock’s current trading price. With ownership of 9 million shares of the company, billionaire John Paulson‘s Paulson & Co remained the largest shareholder of Synergy Pharmaceuticals among the funds tracked by us at the end of December.

#3 Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN)

 – Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 24

 – Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $477.84 million

Moving on, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN)’s stock rose over 56% in the fourth quarter, but has given up most of those gains this year and now trades down 33.58% year-to-date. Despite such a large surge in the company’s stock during the fourth quarter only the aggregate value of the holdings in it of investors covered by us saw a 77.2% rise during the same period, the number of bullish investors among the funds we track remained constant at 24. The majority of analysts who cover (NASDAQ:ACHN)’s stock currently are quite optimistic about its future due to the company’s drug pipeline, which they believe will help it in increasing its market share going forward. On February 26, analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ while maintaining their price target of $10. Billionaire Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management became bullish on Achillion Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter and raised its holding in the company by 1,369% to 4.88 million shares.