The buy side says: “Ronny excels at stock picking.”
What one fund manager calls an “unassailable franchise where the aesthetic markets are concerned” helps propel Aaron (Ronny) Gal, 43, to the No. 1 spot for a second year running. The Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst initiated coverage on Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. in April 2009 with a buy rating, at $13.05, after the Food and Drug Administration approved its wrinkle smoother, Dysport, a Botox rival. Last October, after shares of the Scottsdale, Arizona–based company had skyrocketed 69.6 percent, to $22.13, and led the sector by 47.3 percentage points, Gal urged clients to take profits. He upgraded the stock to buy in July, on a price dip to $21.80, and by the end of August, the shares had climbed 26.1 percent further, to $27.50.
