NEW YORK (Genomeweb News) – Shares of Millipore were up 4 percent at $69.02 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange after an upgrade to its rating by investment bank Leerink Swann.
The bank raised its rating on Millipore to "outperform" from "market perform." Analyst Isaac Ro said that the change was due to "improving fundamentals and execution."
Millipore "should benefit from exposure to a number of themes that include cell-based H1N1 vaccine production, an improving biologics pipeline, recent product launches, and stimulus funding," wrote Ro.
In addition, the analyst pointed out that merger and acquisition activity in the life sciences sector has accelerated recently, and he believes Millipore "is an attractive target for a number of potential buyers."
The bank also upped its valuation on Millipore's stock to a range of between $81 and $90 per share.