Steven Cohen Beefs Up Immune System With Immunomedics

As markets attempt to rebound on hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), manager of Point72 Asset Management, disclosed this week that his firm purchased a stake in Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) according to GuruFocus Real-Time Picks, a Premium feature.

According to the firm’s website, Point72 invests using long-short strategies, macroeconomic strategies and systematic strategies. The firm’s long-short investing business seeks long-term capital appreciation through fundamental, bottom-up research processes and macroeconomic insights.

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• IMMU 30-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of IMMU
• Peter Lynch Chart of IMMU

The firm has not released its complete March-quarter portfolio as the deadline is 45 days after the quarter ends according to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. As of the December 2019 13-F filing, the $19.02 billion equity portfolio contains 917 stocks with a turnover rate of 49%. The top-three sectors in terms of weight are technology, consumer cyclical and health care, with weights of 19.16%, 16.46% and 16.38%.

Trade details

Point72 purchased 10,954,266 shares of Immunomedics, giving the position 1.07% weight in the equity portfolio. The shares traded around $18.78 on the April 6 transaction date.

Morris Plains, New Jersey-based Immunomedics develops monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer and autoimmune disorders. The clinical-stage biotech company said in its 2019 annual report that its key product candidate is sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132), an antibody-drug conjugate that aims to treat patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

According to GuruFocus, the company’s cash-to-debt ratio of 2.28 underperforms 68.81% of global competitors while its debt-to-equity ratio of 1 underperforms 88.88% of global biotech companies.

Markets end week higher on Covid-19 vaccine hopes and Boeing’s return to aircraft manufacturing

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,242.49, up 704.81 points from Thursday’s close of 23,537.68. The 30-stock index closed above 24,000 for the first time since March 10, when the Dow traded slightly above 25,000.

Dow component Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) helped propel the 30-stock index above 24,000, soaring over 14% on its announcement that the Seattle-based company will resume manufacturing commercial airplanes at its Puget Sound facilities next week. Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and senior executive in the Pacific Northwest, added that the "health and safety of [Boeing’s] employees and their families” remains a shared priority and that the phased reopening of the facilities will help gradually “resume essential work” for Boeing’s customers.

Markets also received a boost from news that a Chicago-based hospital that is treating coronavirus patients with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GILD) antiviral medicine remdesivir in a trial were recovering rapidly from symptoms according to an article published on STAT News.

Disclosure: No positions.

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