Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are in Spotlight Today

Justice Department Concerned About Aetna-Humana Merger

Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) and Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) both inched further down after the bell, having extended the losses from the previous day, but managed to recover. The performance of both stocks was affected by a Reuters report on Thursday  that claimed that the U.S. Department of Justice has “significant concerns” over Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana amid fears that the deal would hurt the market competition. The proposed merger would combine two big players in the Medicare Advantage plans sector. A meeting between Assistant Attorney General William Baer and officials from the two companies is scheduled to take place on Friday on this matter.  Last week, Aetna started divesting approximately $1 billion worth of Medicare Advantage assets to address antitrust concerns. From our database, 63 funds held shares of Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) at the end of the first quarter, whereas 64 investors owned stakes in Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM).

McDonald’s To Incur $235 Million

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is on the move today after it announced on Thursday that it would incur $235 million in charges in the June quarter related to its planned sale of 4,000 restaurants to franchisees by 2018 and costs of relocation of its headquarters to downtown Chicago. The charge would slash the profit by $0.20, the company said. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) had revealed its plans for about $500 million in general and administrative savings to be achieved by the end of 2017. Shares of the fast food company are trading 0.54% in the green so far today. Among the funds we track, 83 funds were bullish on McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) at the end of the first quarter. Among them, Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management owns around 4.75 million shares of the company.

Disclosure: None