Teva Spikes Higher as Chairman Purchases One Million Shares

Teva Pharmaceuticals TEVA spiked almost $1 higher around 1pm on Friday after the company announced that Dr. Phillip Frost purchased one million Teva American Depositary Shares. Dr. Frost is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Teva and made his purchase at various prices on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Trading in the Israel-based generic drugmaker moved to the New York Stock Exchange from the NASDAQ on Wednesday, when Dr. Frost bought the million shares. His purchase ranged in price from $37.82 to $39.57, or about 10% higher than the company's 52-week low of $35. Teva had been the NASDAQ's 10th largest company by market capitalization prior to its move to NYSE. Dr. Frost has been Teva's Chairman since March 2010 and was re-elected as chairman on May 17th. He commented on his purchase, "This investment is simply a reflection of the strength of my conviction regarding Teva's bright future." In January, Jeremy Levin from Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY was named CEO of the company. Morgan Stanley MS maintains research coverage of the company at an Equal-Weight rating with a price target of $44. Citigroup C maintains a Buy rating on the company with a price target of $49. Teva recently issued guidance for 2012 EPS of $5.30-5.40 versus Wall Street's $5.59 estimate. Teva said that it expects muted value growth in the European generic market this year, though branded and over-the-counter drugs continued to perform well in the region. Dr. Frost is known for his aggressive pharmaceutical investing, with a wide portfolio of successful investments. In 1972, he purchased a struggling company called Key Pharmaceuticals, working for 14 years to turn it around and later selling it to Schering-Plough Corporation for $826 million. He also led Ivax to a billion-dollar acquisition and still works in the original Ivax building in Miami, Florida. Dr. Frost now spends the majority of his time as CEO of Opko Health OPK, a multinational pharmaceutical and holding company. The self-made billionaire continues to invest in many companies, including Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services LTS, ChromaDex Corporation CDXC, and Pershing Gold PGLC. He also continues to invest almost weekly in share purchases in Opko Health OPK, his primary focus and largest holding. Dr. Frost has years of experience with investing, turning small companies into industry leaders. Teva shares opened for trading 1.7% lower on Friday, but after the 1pm announcement, shares recovered most of their intraday losses and ended the week at $39.01. Dr. Frost's other investments traded in sync with the broad market, which declined 2.5% in a tumultuous trading session on Friday. Opko Health closed down 2.4%, Ladenburg Thalmann declined 3.4%, and ChromaDex and Pershing Gold closed unchanged.