Five Healthcare Stocks that Disappointed Hedge Funds

#4 Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP)

– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 53

– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $2.84 billion

Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) lost more than half of its market capitalization in the first three months of 2016 itself, ending the first quarter down by 54%. During the last quarter of 2015, the number of investors from our database with long positions in the stock fell by eight and the aggregate value of their holdings in it shrunk by $1.29 billion. On March 31, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint in federal court against Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP), accusing its Endo Pharmaceuticals unit of using pay-for-delay deals to block the market launch of lower-cost generic versions of two drugs. The suit alleges that Endo Pharmaceuticals paid $112 million to Impax Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IPXL) in 2010 to delay the launch of its generic version of Opana ER until January 2013 and paid hundreds of millions of dollars to Watson Laboratories (now a part of Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN)) to delay the launch of its generic version of Lidoderm until September 2013. Analysts at Leerink Swann reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on Endo International’s stock on April 7 and cut their price target to $37 from $51.

#3 Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX)

– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 54

– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $3.58 billion

Moving on, the ownership of Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) among investors covered by us came down by four during the fourth quarter, but the aggregate value of their holdings in it increased by $147 million during the same period.  Billionaire Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine capital was one of the hedge funds that initiated a stake in Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) during that period; it bought nearly 3.2 million shares of the company. Last month health insurance major Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) sued the company to recover damages for pharmacy pricing that it alleged were higher than competitive benchmarks. According to Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM)’s lawsuit, Express Scripts Holding Company owes it $3 billion. After the news of the lawsuit emerged, Express Scripts Holding Company’s CEO stated that he has ‘no clue’ how Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) reached that figure. Analysts who track Express Scripts Holding Company feel that the stock has now reached attractive levels and investors should consider buying it because of the competitive advantages the company enjoys over its peers and macroeconomic trends, which are now in its favor.