Priority Healthcare Shares Fall After Analyst Downgrades Stock
By Ambre Brown Morley
Lake Mary, Florida, Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Priority Healthcare Corp. fell as much as 16 percent after shares of the specialty pharmacy and drug distributor were downgraded by a Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst.
The shares fell $2.96, or 10 percent, to $26.66 in midmorning trading. Earlier, the shares touched $24.99. The shares have fallen 27 percent in the past 12 months.
Priority Healthcare markets hepatitis C drug treatments for Schering-Plough Corp., which is requiring that patients register to receive its combination hepatitis C treatment Peg-Intron, or be place on a waiting list. Demand for Peg-Intron might exceed supplies of the drug as soon as next week, according to Schering- Plough.
Priority Healthcare's shares were downgraded to ``market perform'' from ``market outperform'' by Goldman analyst Christopher McFadden, who called the company a ``victim of poor circumstance.'' McFadden hasn't returned a phone call seeking additional comment.
In a separate report, Goldman, Sachs analyst James Kelly said that because overwhelming demand for Schering-Plough's treatment may outstrip supply, sales growth may be constricted.
Shares of Schering-Plough fell 84 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $34.45.
Last month, Schering-Plough said it couldn't guarantee Peg- Intron would be made available to patients who refused to participate in a registration system |
