Qiagen Is Not For Sale

Not for Sale! What a nice Christmas gift from Qiagen’s (Ticker: QGEN) Board of Directors… For me it was a mixed blessing as part of me didn’t want this company sold. I got into this stock when it went public in 1996 and has been a multibagger for me. I’ll continue to hang onto to this position (makes up ~ 5% of my portfolio) for the long term. This company will continue to do well as we’re really at the cusp of the molecular diagnostics wave. This certainly was a wild ride as I really thought that the company would sell out to Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ticker: TMO). I guess they were looking for a big premium, which I can’t blame them.

Bought Some: The Medicines Company

I’m just doing some very low risk arb trades now as we limp towards the close of the year. I nibbled on some The Medicines Company (Ticker: MDCO), which is being acquired by Novartis (Ticker: NVS) for $85.00 per share in cash. This deal has already received FTC approval, so risk of this deal breaking is minuscule. I acquired the common stock at $84.70, which will equate to a net gain of 0.3590% or annualized return of 6.80% (assuming cash hits the account by January 10th). This is ~ 15% position. I figure this is better than the rate I am earning in my money market account.

Back Into Spark Therapeutics

Today, Roche (Ticker: RHHBY) received approval for its acquisition of Spark Therapeutics (Ticker: ONCE) from Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This was the catalysts I was looking for… I went back into Sparks today via common stock at an average price of $113.68 comprising of ~ 40% of my portfolio. I like the risk and reward at this point as the FTC was working close with Britain’s CMA during the review process. I’m modeling a year end close, which equates to a potential ~ 16% annualized rate of return. Not bad considering this is close to the finish line.

November 2019 Performance

November was a strong month with the market hit new highs. My portfolio just went along with for the ride. One interesting stock was Qiagen (Ticker: QGEN), which went from a dog performer to a rising star. As you may know, Qiagen pre-announced an earnings warning and CEO departure, which led to the stock hitting new lows. With the company in limbo, several acquirers approached the company with a potential deal. This in turn has propelled the stock to new highs. What a turnaround in stock price! I do think a deal will be announced shortly and I am looking for something in $50+ per share. Thermo (Ticker: TMO) will most likely win the prize.

I positioned my portfolio with a bearish tilt in 2019 with a hefty cash position, which I never got to deploy (yet). I am really surprised that my portfolio was able to generate these returns. I wish I can say it was skill, but luck is definitely a factor. My special situations plays were limited to a few positions in the beginning of the year. Nothing else since… So no significant alpha contribution to the portfolio. 

We’ll see if I can end the year on a strong note…

2019 Performance = +36.05% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January +7.4%
February +3.7%
March +5.06%
April +7.15%
May -7.90%
June +8.2%
July +1.88%
August +1.00%
September -0.09%
October +1.12%
November +4.75%