Why Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc.(BSPM), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC), and Three Other Stocks Are Trading Lower Today

The US stock market has inched up amid a decline in oil prices and higher bond yields. The market was also affected by several developments concerning individual stocks, some of which we are going to discuss in this article.

Having said that, among stocks that are in the red today are Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NASDAQ:BSPM), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Nokia Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) and Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE:PANW). In this article, we will take a look at the news that sent these stocks lower and will assess the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

We determine the hedge fund sentiment by analyzing the equity portfolios of some of the best-performing hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive research, we have determined that the due diligence that these investors employ, as well as their long-term focus makes them perfect targets to emulate. However, the results of our analysis have also showed that the small-cap picks of these funds can generate much better returns, with the 15 most popular small-cap stocks beating the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NASDAQ:BSPM) stock has tumbled by 15% in the current trading session as the company announced the execution of agreement for direct offering of shares of common stock and warrants. The deal is expected to be worth $1.91 million and involve 425,000 shares, priced at $4.50 per share. It will also issues warrants for the purchase of 212,500 shares of common stock at $5.55 per share. At the end of June, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies held around 106,000 shares of Biostar Pharmaceuticals.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) stock is 18% down today after the company issued a profit warning, saying that it expects its operating income to be 93% lower in the third quarter while the revenue is likely to show a 14% decline on a year-over-year basis. The company CEO said that the cost cutting measure could not offset lower gross margin and sales. The number of funds from our database long Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson declined to 12 from 13 during the second quarter, while the total value of their holdings fell to $73.3 million from $140 million.

On the next page, we are going to discuss the other three stocks that have plunged in Wednesday intraday trading.

Nokia Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) stock is trading 5% lower as the European technology and communication stocks tumbled following Ericsson’s profit warning. In other news, Nokia has announced that it managed to set a new record for undersea cable capacity, demonstrating a 65 terabit/second transmission rate. A total of 15 funds from our database have positions in Nokia Corp worth about $369 million as of the end of June, compared to $390 million worth of shares held by 20 investors a quarter earlier.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) stock is down following a rating downgrade from OTR Global. The analysts reduced the rating on the stock to ‘Mixed’ from ‘Positive’. Among the funds we track, 31 funds were long ServiceNow stock’s at the end of June, up by three funds over the quarter. The total value of their holdings advanced to $725 million from $462 million during the second quarter.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE:PANW) stock is marginally down in the current trading session on account of its peer company Fortinet lowering its third-quarter guidance and issuing warning about the slowdown in cybersecurity market (see more details). A total of 37 funds from our database amassed stakes in Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE:PANW) worth $801 million at the end of June, down from 42 funds and $956 million, respectively, at the end of the first quarter.

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