Baidu, Monsanto, Chipotle Among 5 Stocks Garnering Major Attention Today

Analyst Upgrade Chipotle Mexican

Traders are watching Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) after analysts at CLSA upgraded the burrito quick serve chain’s stock to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Underperform’. The analysts believe Chipotle will experience higher customer demand as people forget about the food safety events of a year ago and as more customers take Chipotle up on the company’s summer loyalty program. Shares of Chipotle are still down by close to 15% year-to-date, however. 39 funds in our database owned shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) at the end of the first quarter.

Regulators Investigate Baidu Again

According to the Financial Times, the Cyber Administration of China is investigating Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) over gambling ads that only show up on the company’s search pages at night. Baidu has been previously investigated by regulators for showing misleading sponsored medical ads that led to a person’s death. Regulators have said that the current investigation may take several weeks to determine whether Baidu violated any laws. Baidu needs to get on the Chinese government’s good side or it is likely to face restrictions that could severely hamper its performance. 72 funds that we follow were long Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) as of March 31.

Monsanto Rejects Bayer Offer

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) is in the spotlight today after the company rejected Bayer’s new bid of $125 per share (up from the previous bid of $122 per share) as ”financially inadequate and insufficient to ensure deal certainty.” Although it has rejected Bayer’s offer, Monsanto is open to continued conversations with Bayer concerning an M&A deal. The two companies are also purportedly working on a confidentiality agreement to allow Bayer to do the necessary due diligence to be more certain of the merger’s synergies. The number of elite funds that we track with holdings in Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) rose by 13 quarter-over-quarter to 51 as of the end of March.

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