Goldman Sachs maintained a Conviction Buy rating on Actavis (NYSE: ACT) and raised its price target to $280.00 (from $275.00). Analyst Jami Rubin noted organic growth and M&A optionality.

"We believe management’s comments on the earnings call signaled interest in continued M&A activity. CEO Brent Saunders struck a balance between reinforcing the importance of staying investment grade but at the same time being opportunistic. Post the FRX deal, ACT has been active in M&A with the announced acquisitions of Durata and Rhythm. Press reports (Bloomberg, 10/7/14) have indicated ACT may be interested in AGN. In response to questions on general M&A, CEO Saunders stated that 'If there was an opportunity, I think we've demonstrated as a team that if it was the right strategic opportunity with strong financial fundamentals that created long term enduring growth for our company, we would be very interested,'" said Rubin.

"We raise our 12-month price target to $280 (was $275) on an unchanged 16.5x P/E applied to our higher 2015E EPS (85% weight) and a higher M&A component based on an unchanged 6.5x EV/sales, $317 (15% weight)," he added.

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Shares of Actavis closed at $247.91 yesterday.