Valeant (VRX) Stock Closed Higher Today After CEO Statement

Valeant (VRX) stock closed up on heavy trading after CEO Papa assured investors of the company's strength.
By Rachel Aldrich ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX)  closed up 6.48% to $23.02 this afternoon on heavy trading volume.

Over 48.37 million shares traded hands today vs. the stock's average of 29.79 million per day.

The stock has been showing volatility over the last few days, dropping as much as 9% on Wednesday and then climbing back today.

Former CEO Michael Pearson sold options totaling 4.4 million shares yesterday, shrouding the company's future in doubt. 

Earlier today CEO Joseph Papa hoped to assure investors by announcing that Pearson was still a "significant shareholder" and that his personal decisions did not reflect on the company's strength.

Real Money's James Passeri said in an article today that Valeant is hoping to bring in $1.5 billion in new annual sales this year if three new drugs obtain approval by the FDA this month.

Valeant is a Canadian pharmaceutical and medical device company.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "sell" with a ratings score of D.

The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: VRX

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

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