Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:ARQL,AMGN,BIIB,ALNY, What happened

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) were trading 14% higher as of 11 a.m. EDT on Friday. The nice jump for the biotech stock came after Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ:GLPG) announced disappointing results�Thursday evening from a phase 2 clinical study evaluating�C2 corrector GLPG2737 in treating cystic fibrosis (CF).

Galapagos' CF drug met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant change from baseline in sweat chloride concentration compared to a placebo at day 28. However, the drug didn't improve lung function by a statistically significant level.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Galapagos' disappointment could mean that Vertex will maintain a virtual monopoly in treating cystic fibrosis.�Vertex currently has three approved drugs that improve lung function in CF patients by modulating or correcting dysfunctional CFTR genes. The biotech is evaluating new triple-drug combination therapies that hold even greater promise in helping CF patients.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $6.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $5.00. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 134.38% from the company’s previous close.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  ValuEngine upgraded shares of ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

  Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ARQL. Zacks Investment Research upgraded ArQule from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $2.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 20th. BidaskClub upgraded ArQule from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Saturday, March 24th. B. Riley set a $4.00 price objective on ArQule and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 26th. Leerink Swann upgraded ArQule from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 5th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on ArQule from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $5.35.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) were down 5.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $4.71 and last traded at $4.73. Approximately 3,358,864 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 289% from the average daily volume of 863,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.00.

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNT) shares surged 20.6 percent to $6.39. WBB Securities upgraded Melinta Therapeutics from Hold to Speculative Buy. Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCVL) shares climbed 17.2 percent to $30.87 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings. Acorn International, Inc. (NYSE: ATV) shares rose 15.2 percent to $28.804 after the company declared a special one-time cash dividend of $14.97 per ADS. Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL) gained 15 percent to $53.35 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOS) surged 14.2 percent to $2.625. ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) rose 13 percent to $5.12 after gaining 4.86 percent on Thursday. Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) gained 12.8 percent to $16.97 after the company posted better-than-expected FQ4 results. Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima (NYSE: LOMA) shares rose 12 percent to $12.94. ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) shares rose 12 percent to $5.07. Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) climbed 11.4 percent to $43.50. Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB) gained 11.3 percent to $24.7000. Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYME) rose 9.7 percent to $19.64. Park City Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYG) climbed 9 percent to $7.90. Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) gained 7.9 percent to $38.82 after Citron reversed previously bearish position on the stock. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) shares jumped 7.3 percent to $3.55. Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE: DECK) rose 3.5 percent to $107.27 after reporting better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter.

  Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Shares of development-stage biopharma ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) rose nearly 17% today after the company announced two appointments to its management team in two newly created positions. Dr. Marc Schegerin will serve as senior vice president, corporate strategy, communication, and finance. Dr. Shirish Hirani will serve as senior vice president, program management and product planning.�

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) insider Value Fund L. P. Biotechnology sold 1,035,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $5,179,695.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ]

  Celgene (CELG) : "I'd rather buy Amgen (AMGN) or Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) . I think Celgene overpaid for that acquisition a few years ago."

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Wayne Hummer Investments L.L.C. trimmed its position in shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 303 shares during the period. Wayne Hummer Investments L.L.C.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) shares made a slight gain on Tuesday after it was announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in men and women at high risk of fracture. Specifically, the agency approved Prolia (denosumab), driven by positive late-stage results.

• [By Keith Speights]

  The big reason Humira will maintain its position at the top is the U.S. market. U.S. sales of the drug are projected to be around $12.2 billion in 2024. That's not much lower than Humira's 2017 U.S. sales of nearly $12.4 billion. Will Amgen's (NASDAQ:AMGN) biosimilar Amjevita, which will go on sale in the U.S. effective Jan. 31, 2023, really make that small of a dent in Humira's sales? Not really. The impact will be greater than the 2024 projections indicate.

• [By ]

  For example, if you buy 100 shares of the�Nasdaq�100�ETF�(NYSE: QQQ), you're theoretically buying 11.9 shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)... 7.7 shares of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB)... 1.8 shares of�Amgen�(NASDAQ: AMGN)... 2.6 shares of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)... and even smaller amounts of about 95 different companies.

• [By Chris Lange]

  Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) saw its short interest fall to 9.79 million shares from the previous level of 10.46 million. Shares were last seen at $170.00, in a 52-week trading range of $152.16 to $201.23.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Cory Renauer]

  Biotech traders get heaps of attention, but buying promising young drugmakers and holding them for the long term is a far easier way to get rich. Case in point: Spreading $10,000 evenly among shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB),�Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), and�Gilead Sciences Inc.�(NASDAQ:GILD) around this time in 1998 would have made you a millionaire already.�

• [By Benzinga News Desk]

  A distillery in a small Spanish town has claimed it invented the original Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) recipe and now wants recognition: Link

  ECONOMIC DATA Initial Jobless Claims For Week Ended May 25 221K vs 225K Economist Estimate, Down From 234K In Prior Week Personal Income Apr. Up 0.3%, Personal Spending Up 0.6% The Chicago PMI for May is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET. Fed Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 8:30 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS Canaccord upgrades Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) from Hold to Buy Morgan Stanley upgrades Corning (NYSE: GLW) from Equal-Weight to Overweight Morgan Stanley downgrades Micron (NASDAQ: MU) from Overweight to Equal-Weight Cantor downgrades HealthEquity (NASDAQ: HQY) from Overweight to Neutral

  This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Three biotech stocks that achieved this feat this week are�Nightstar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NITE),�Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS), and�Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB). What caused these stocks to soar, and are they smart picks to buy now? Here's what you need to know.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Wall Street continued its downward streak on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 100 points. Most major benchmarks fell more modestly, with a few actually poking into positive territory on the day. Trade-sensitive stocks were among the weakest as investors focused on uncertainty related to tariff disputes between the U.S. and China. But for some other companies, bad news of a different sort was responsible for the drops in their shares. Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE), and Catalyst Biosciences (NASDAQ:CBIO) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) were up 15.2% as of 11:35 a.m. EDT on Friday after the biotech, along with partner Eisai, reported encouraging results from a phase 2 clinical study of BAN2401 in treating Alzheimer's disease. Patients taking BAN2401 achieved statistically significant�improvement compared to patients on placebo after 18 months in�slowing progression of Alzheimer's disease and in the reduction�of�amyloid�accumulations in�the brain.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ALNY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  BidaskClub lowered shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $21.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.23 million. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 36.81% and a negative net margin of 565.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.25) earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

• [By Sean Williams, Chuck Saletta, and Brian Feroldi]

  So, which biotech stocks should you consider buying in June? That's a question we posed to three of our healthcare-focused investors. Interestingly enough, mid-cap biotech stocks are the clear flavor of the month. If biotech is on your radar in June, our investors suggest you consider Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS), Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE), and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY).