Steven Cohen Ups the Ante on Affimed

Guru adds to stake in biotech focused on cancer immunotherapies

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Feb 09, 2021
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Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), the billionaire investor who leads Point72 Asset Management, disclosed earlier this week his firm upped its stake in Affimed NV (AFMD, Financial) by 190.73%.

The guru's Stamford, Connecticut-based firm invests in a wide range of asset classes worldwide in order to generate superior risk-adjusted returns. Its long-short strategy is based on bottom-up research processes focusing on fundamentals and macroeconomic conditions.

According to Real-Time Picks, a Premium feature of GuruFocus, Cohen invested in 3.8 million shares of the German biopharmaceutical company on Jan. 27. The stock traded for an average price of $5.72 per share on the day of the transaction. The transaction had a 0.11% impact on the equity portfolio.

The guru now holds 5.8 million shares total, which account for 0.17% of the equity portfolio. GuruFocus data shows he has gained an estimated 32.85% on the investment since the third quarter of 2019.

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The clinical-stage biotech company, which focuses on developing cancer immunotherapies, has a $716.27 million market cap; its shares were trading around $6.24 on Tuesday with a price-book ratio of 9.71 and a price-sales ratio of 19.68.

Based on its historical ratios, past performance and future projections, the GF Value Line indicates Affimed is fairly valued currently.

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On Jan. 12, Affimed announced a $100 million public offering of common stock. The offering consisted of 16. 6 million shares, which were priced at $6 each. Underwriters were also granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.5 million shares. The offering closed on Jan. 15.

GuruFocus rated Affimed's financial strength 5 out of 10. While the cash-to-debt ratio of 40.76 is robust, the Altman Z-Score of 2 indicates the company is under some pressure since assets are building up at a faster rate than revenue is growing.

The company's profitability scored a 2 out of 10 rating. Although the operating margin is expanding, it is still in negative territory. The returns are also negative and underperforming over half of its competitors. Affimed also has a low Piotroski F-Score of 1, indicating business conditions are in poor shape, and has recorded a slowdown in revenue per share growth over the past 12 months.

With a 5.07% stake, Cohen is the company's largest guru shareholder. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies also has a position in the stock.

Portfolio composition

Cohen's $19.52 billion equity portfolio, which was composed of 894 stocks as of the three months ended Sept. 30, is most heavily invested in the health care, technology and consumer cyclical sectors.

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Other biotech companies Cohen owned as of the end of the third quarter included Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN, Financial), Novavax Inc. (NVAX, Financial), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX, Financial), Incyte Corp. (INCY, Financial), Replimune Group Inc. (REPL, Financial) and Mersana Therapeutics Inc. (MRSN, Financial).

Disclosure: No positions.

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