Billionaire investor Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) revealed a new stake in Aeglea BioTherapeutics Inc. (AGLE, Financial) late last week.
The guru's Stamford, Connecticut- based firm generates superior risk-adjusted returns by investing in a wide range of asset classes worldwide. It employs a long-short strategy that focuses on fundamentals and macroeconomics through bottom-up research.
According to GuruFocus Real-Time Picks, a Premium feature, Cohen purchased 2.88 million shares to re-establish the holding for the first time since the third quarter of 2018. The shares, which were trading at an average price of $7.68 on the day of the transaction, represented an overall impact on the portfolio of 0.14%. GuruFocus estimates the total gain of the holding at 1.22%.
Aeglea BioTherapeutics
Aeglea BioTherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. It designs and develops innovative human enzyme therapeutics for patients with rare genetic diseases and cancer. The company's lead product candidate includes pegzilarginase, a recombinant human Arginase 1 enzyme, which is in an early clinical development stage.
On Oct. 30, the stock was trading at $7.80 per share with a market cap of $349.66 million. There is currently not enough financial data available for a GF Value line or Peter Lynch chart to be generated, but the company saw a steep increase in share price starting in March that settled around $7 a share at the end of July.
GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 1 out of 10. There is currently one severe warning sign issued for declining revenue per share. The company boasts a cash-to-debt ratio of 32.04 that is higher than 67.33% of the industry and debt has remained at very low levels. Cash flows have been diving deeper into negative territory each year, leading to the very poor profitability rank.
October proved to be a big month for the company as the Food and Drug Administration granted fast track status for its AGLE-102 treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic pediatric skin blistering disorder. The Fast Track program is intended to facilitate the development and review of drug candidates and should help bring the treatment to market as soon as possible.
In addition, the company had another treatment granted an Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA. This provides the company with the potential for seven years of market exclusivity, fee waivers and tax credits for qualified clinical trials. Both of these new developments add value for shareholders moving into the future.
Disclosure: Author owns no stocks mentioned.
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