Markets are off to a bullish start this week following a rise in oil prices and fading chances of a Brexit. Investors are also keeping an eye on Federal Reserve Chairwoman’s statement in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban affairs scheduled on Tuesday.
Some stocks are on the radar of investors today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FATE), DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM), Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM), and Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP). Let’s see why these stocks are in the spotlight on Monday and take a look at the hedge fund sentiment towards them.
Apple Will Not Support GOP Convention Because of Donald Trump
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has declined to provide funding or support to the Republican Party for its 2016 presidential convention, citing presumptive nominee of the Party, Donald Trump’s controversial comments about women, his stance on immigrants and minorities, Politico reported on Saturday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. However, the reported added that big tech companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft are going to provide support for the GOP event which is scheduled to take place in July. Apple communicated its decision “privately” to the Republican Party. As of the end of first quarter, 152 hedge funds in our system are long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), owning approximately $14.8 billion worth of shares. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management has the biggest stake among those investors, with ownership of more than 11 million shares.
Fate Therapeutics’ Drug Gets Fast Track Status
Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FATE)’s has surged by over 20% after the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track status to ProTmune, its drug for the reduction of the incidence and severity of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). The San Diego, California based biopharmaceutical company also announced that Phase 1/2 clinical trial of ProTmune in adult subjects with hematologic malignancies is open for patient enrollment. In a statement, Chris Storgard, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Fate Therapeutics, said that the company is looking forward to work with FDA to “rapidly advance” its innovative immunotherapy through the clinical development and regulatory processes.
Only five out of nearly 766 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FATE) as of the end of the first quarter. Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital owns around 2.25 million shares of the company.
On the next page, we will see why DexCom, Toyota Motor Corp, and Yelp are making moves today.
DexCom Announces $200 Million Credit Agreement
DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM) is on the radar of investors today after the company announced that it has entered into a $200 million revolving credit agreement with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Silicon Valley Bank and Union Bank. The agreement, which matures on June 17, 2021, provides a sub-facility of up to $10 million for letters of credit. With ownership of over 1.80 million shares, Donald Chiboucis’ Columbus Circle Investors is one of the 27 hedge funds that reported stakes in DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM) as of the end of March.
Toyota Motor Corp Working on AI Based Safety System
Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM)’s stock is over 3% in the green after the company’s research institute head Gill Pratt said that Toyota is planning to launch smart cars with artificial intelligence within the next five years. Mr. Pratt told reporters that Toyota will integrate AI-based driver assistance systems to improve vehicle safety. He said that $1 billion fund by Toyota granted to the Toyota Research Institute will start showing results in the next five years. Only 12 hedge funds among those tracked by us were long Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) at the end of the first quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management has more than 1.3 million shares of the company, according to its latest 13F filing.
DB Says Yelp is a “Buy”
Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP)’s stock has surged by more than 6% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to “Buy” from “Hold” and raised its price target to $33 from $26. The financial services company cited stabilized sales force productivity, increasing confidence in management, and improvements in ad units as the reasons behind the upgrade. Investors from our data lowered their hold on Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) stock in the first quarter and 33 funds were long stock at the end of March, compared to 42 funds a quarter earlier. Among them, Eashwar Krishnan’s Tybourne Capital Management owns 6.15 million shares of the company, as of the end of the first quarter.
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