UPDATE: Jefferies Raising Price Target On Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN)

Jefferies & Co. is raising its price target on shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN to $87 from $77 after it reported earnings. It has a Hold rating on shares. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "In-line 1Q11 Soliris sales of $166M and higher non-GAAP EPS of $0.59 on slightly lower OpEx. Soliris expanded indication update: potential launch in aHUS in 4Q11 (U.S.) and EU (mid-2012) and initiation of registration study in living/deceased donor kidney transplantation in ~2H11. In-line 1Q11 Soliris sales of $166M (vs. our/consensus estimates of $164M/ $166M). Total OpEx excluding non-recurring item was $116M, 11% lower than our estimate o$131M. GAAP EPS of $0.28 was roughly in line with our $0.24 estimate. In 1Q, ALXN incurred a negative after-tax impact of $6.9M ($0.07/sh) from the costs associated with the Taligen Therapeutics and Orphateck Pharmaceuticals acquisitions." Shares of ALXN are down $3.55 to $96.21, a loss of 3.55% this morning.