When a company announces that it is being taken over, its share price usually jumps to reflect the takeover premium being paid for the company. This is obviously a profitable event for shareholders, and the reason why analysts speculate about potential takeover/leveraged buyout (LBO) candidates.
We compiled a list of potential takeover/LBO targets in the biotech industry from various sources including Minyanville and iStockAnalyst. We then screened these names for those with the most significant net insider purchases over the last six months, indicating insiders at these companies are optimistic on their employers' prospects.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
We also created a price-weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.
Do you think these are likely takeover candidates? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.
1. Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (CHTP): Focuses on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of various human diseases. Takeover/LBO rumor sourced from Rougemont. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 47,241 shares, which represents about 0.1% of the company's 48.68M share float.
2. Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN): Focuses on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases in the United States. Takeover/LBO rumor sourced from Minyanville. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 1,147,052 shares, which represents about 1.01% of the company's 113.40M share float.
3. Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SVNT): Focuses on developing KRYSTEXXA, a biologic PEGylated uricase in the United States. Takeover/LBO rumor sourced from Minyanville. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 80,500 shares, which represents about 0.15% of the company's 55.48M share float.
*Insider data sourced from Yahoo Finance, all other data sourced from Finviz.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
