Allergan Shares Rally Nearly 5%; BofA Added To US-1 List

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Sumant Kulkarni added Allergan plc AGN shares to the firm's esteemed US-1 list Tuesday morning. The analyst reiterated a Buy rating and boosted his price objective on the stock from $287 to $294.

"AGN shares are down ~30% this year, driven in part by the breakup of the Pfizer-AGN merger, which we believe creates a particularly attractive opportunity to own a relatively high-quality Pharma stock with limited “Brexit” exposure," Kulkarni said.

Kulkarni highlighted three points as to why Allergan has positioned itself appropriately within the industry:

• "A product mix that includes lucrative/sticky franchises (Botox, implants, etc.),
• ~15 potential launches in 2016, and
• A robust pipeline (70+ programs)."

On the heels of the Generics unit sale, $10 billion buyback plan and repayment of $8 billion in debt, Kulkarni said Allergan will have about $18 billion in "dry powder" left.

As Allergan shares closed Tuesday's session up nearly 5 percent at $227.72, Kulkarni's new price objective represented potential upside of about 29 percent.