Sciele a Buy Since January

Those of who took note of Zacks senior biotech analyst Jason Napodano, CFA's upgrade to a Buy recommendation for Sciele Pharmaceuticals (SCRX) early this year will be happy to know the company has just been sold to Shionogi & Co., a Japanese firm, for $1.4 billion in cash. Shares of SCRX were up about 60% as of today's opening.  Price appreciation has skyrocketed to around $30.58 per share.

It helps that this comes of a day with positive momentum for the stock market as the price of oil has again come down.  Nevertheless, congratulations to all who took Jason's advice, when shares were trading at under $19 per share he said, "We believe the current share price represents an attractive entry point for long-term investors and we rate the stock a Buy."

We await an updated report on SCRX in the days to come.  But the buyout also reaffirms the industry outlook of Zacks fellow biotech analyst Grant Zeng, CFA, who mentions in today's Senior Analyst Interview that he expects mergers and acquisitions activity to continue in the biotech industry.

Read the full analyst report on SCRX