Traders Are Keeping A Close Watch On These Five Stocks Today

Lululemon Upgraded

Traders are watching Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) today after analysts at Wells Fargo raised their price target on the yoga apparel maker’s stock to $84-to-$86 from the previous $75-to-$77. The analysts raised their price target after talking with management, who provided the analysts with more confidence related to the company’s future plans. Lululemon shares are up by 46% year-to-date. 28 funds in our system were long Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) as of the most recent 13F reporting period, up by six funds quarter-over-quarter.

Cree Rises on Asset Divestment

Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) shares are 11% in the green this morning after the company agreed to sell its Wolfspeed Power and RF division to Infineon Technologies AG for $850 million in cash. The sale will help Cree focus more on LED lighting and provide the company with valuable liquidity to potentially use to acquire other companies and/or to buy back its stock. Management expects the transaction to close by the end of 2016. In addition, Cree has provided preliminary revenue of $388 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016, which is at the upper end of the company’s guidance range. 17 savvy funds that we track owned shares of Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) at the end of the first quarter.

BlackRock On Watch After Earnings

Asset manager BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) reported second quarter earnings of $4.78 per share on revenue of $2.8 billion, beating profit estimates by $0.01 per share and meeting revenue expectations. Although AUM rose by 4% year-over-year to $4.89 trillion, the company’s base fees inched lower by 2% due to asset shifts. Operating margin shrank by 100 basis points year-over-year to 43.9% and the company bought back $275 million of its shares in the quarter. 29 funds in our system owned shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) at the end of March, down by five funds from the end of 2015.

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