GNC Deal Could Be In Jeopardy, Genocea Taming Herpes, Opexa Not Taming MS, Plus The Latest on Theravance

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) has gained 0.21% this morning, in lockstep with the S&P 500, as it is wont to do. The ETF, which is weighted as close as possible to the index, is gaining this morning on solid GDP data as well as the announcement of a potential partnership deal between General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI).

General Electric, which is one of the most heavily-weighted stocks in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) thanks to its $257.98 billion market cap, has gained 2.27% this morning, as analysts believe that the timing is right for it to ally with Baker Hughes, further expanding its subsea presence.

In economic news, U.S. GDP rose by 2.9% during the third quarter on an annualized basis, more than double the second quarter growth rate of 1.4% and the highest rate in two years. GDP growth topped estimates of 2.6% despite consumer spending growth coming in slightly below estimates at 2.1%. Net exports accounted for over 0.8 percentage points of the GDP’s growth.

In the remainder of this article, we’ll take a look at four other stocks that are grabbing attention today, followed by a look at how hedge funds have been moving in and out of these stocks and ETFs of late.

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GNC Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNC) Gets Ravaged by Analysts

GNC Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNC) has slipped by 9.5% today after coming under attack by analysts, pushing the stock’s 2-day losses to over 25%. After its earnings miss yesterday, the company’s shares were downgraded by both Piper Jaffray (‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’) and Bank of America (‘Underperform’ from ‘Neutral’) this morning, along with both firms slashing their price targets on the stock (Piper lowered its target to $11 from $20, while BoA dropped its target on GNC shares to $13 from $23). Most notably, BoA analyst Curtis Nagle believes that the company’s poor quarterly results could seriously jeopardize its potential acquisition by one of a number of Chinese firms, describing the results as being “significantly” below expectations.

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Genocea Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:GNCA) Showing Herpes Who’s Boss

Genocea Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:GNCA) rocketed out of the gate this morning before settling down to 5% gains for the day after releasing positive data from the phase 2a trial for its genital herpes treatment GEN-003. The 12-month immunogenicity data supported the previous 12-month clinical data from the same trial, showing that the treatment delivered an antigen-specific antibody response for up to 12 months post-dosing. Among the findings was the fact that GEN-003 treatment resulted in the development of CD4+ polyfunctional T cells, which are considered superior to T cells which secrete only one mediator, as they deliver a multi-faceted immune response. Previously released clinical data from the trial showed that a single course of GEN-003 injections could be as effective at treating genital herpes as taking a daily oral antiviral treatment over the course of a year.

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Head to the next page for a look at two other stocks in the spotlight this morning, as well as a look at the latest hedge fund ownership of the stocks discussed in this article.

Opexa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OPXA) Tanks on Study Failure

Opexa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OPXA) is getting slammed by 67.65% today after a phase 2b study for its multiple sclerosis treatment Tcelna failed to meet both its primary and secondary endpoints. The results from the 183-patient, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that while Tcelna performed well in terms of safety and tolerability, it failed to reduce brain atrophy or slow the progression of the disease enough to meet the study’s goals. The company will study the data and determine how best to proceed.

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Theravance Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:TBPH) Raises Debt Offering, Falls Further

Theravance Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:TBPH) is off again today, by 4.93%, a day after shares got clobbered following the company’s announcement of a $100 million offering of shares and a $150 million debt offering. In after-hours trading, the company released the pricing information on the offerings, which included the debt offering of 3.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 being hiked to $200 million. In terms of the public offering of stock, Theravance will issue 3.85 million shares at $26 per share. With shares having more than doubled this year through October 26, the timing was right for a stock offering, though investors don’t appear to be impressed by the larger debt offering. Shares have still gained over 53% this year.

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Let’s take a quick look now at how hedge funds have been playing the stocks in this article as of late. Unsurprisingly, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) was the most popular, with 94 hedge funds in our system owning a stake in it on June 30, with their positions valued at nearly $25 billion. Hedge funds were also quite fond of GNC Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNC) and Theravance Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:TBPH), being overweight each stock. 31 funds held 16.20% of GNC’s shares, while 12 funds owned over 40% of Theravance’s shares. Genocea Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:GNCA) and Opexa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OPXA) weren’t nearly as popular, with a net total of 10 hedge funds that we track owning less than $7.5 million worth of the companies’ shares combined.

Disclosure: None