Why Investors Are Buzzing About These 5 Stocks Today

The U.S stock market seems to have put Brexit fears behind it, with the main indices setting new record highs today. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pledge to further stimulate that country’s economy has also spurred investors to drive the market higher. In this article we’ll take a look at some of the stocks that have followed the main trend but also a couple that are deep in the red today as the second quarter earnings season kicks into full gear.

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Study Fail Leads to 60% Plunge 

Shares of CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR) have plummeted by more than 60% this morning after one of its drugs failed a late-stage study. The stock is currently trading around the $0.85 level, heavily down from yesterday’s closing price of $2.51 per share. The company said its drug candidate aldoxorubicin did not show a significant improvement over doxorubicin, the classic chemotherapy drug, among patients suffering from soft tissue sarcoma. CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR) said it hopes to conduct a second analysis, as half of the patients included in the study were excluded from the data because of an interruption of the study in November 2014. At the end of March, roughly 12% of CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR)’s common stock was held by eight of the hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database.

Market Speculation?

Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH), an application software company, has seen its stock plunge by more than 7% during the first hours of trading, apparently due to technical trading. So far this year, the stock has been a steady performer, trending sideways since it managed to regain the ground that it lost amid the broader market sell off in the beginning of the year. Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH) is scheduled to release its second quarter results on July 19 after the closing bell, with analysts predicting earnings of $0.44 per share on the back of $153 million in revenue. Shares are currently trading at a Price-to-Earnings (P/E) multiple of 42, lower than the industry average of 54, per Yahoo! Finance data.

The popularity of Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH) among the funds that we track cooled down during the first three months of 2016, with the number of long positions among those hedge funds having dropped to 21 from 23.

Head to the next page to read about three more market movers.

Guidance Cuts Lead to Share Price Cuts

Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) is 5% lower today after the company issued a warning regarding its second quarter results. Imperva has revised its revenue estimate, reducing it to a range of $57.5 million-to-$58 million from a previous forecast of $65.5 million-to-$66.5 million. The company also said that it expects a loss of $6 million-to-$6.5 million for the quarter, or between $0.20 and $0.22 on a per-share basis. Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) previously predicted a loss of $0.02-to-$0.04 per share.

“We are disappointed with our second quarter financial results, which were primarily impacted by extended sales cycles across most geographies and verticals predominantly relating to larger deals,” commented CEO Anthony Bettencourt.

The popularity of Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey plummeted during the first quarter, with only 15 of them having reported a long position as of the end of the quarter, down from 30 registered three months earlier.

Banco’s Strategic Development Sending Shares Higher

Investors are driving Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN) higher this morning after Spain’s largest lender announced the appointment of former JPMorgan executive Blythe Masters as its senior blockchain adviser. Shares are currently trading at $4.20 apiece, up by roughly 6% from yesterday’s close. Credited with the creation of Credit Default Swaps, Mr. Masters previously served on the Board of Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN)’s U.S arm. Blockchain is the key innovation introduced by Bitcoin and Santander is competing with other banks to find further uses for the technology. Blythe Masters is also the founder of Digital Asset Holdings, a software company that will partner with Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN) to find an application for the technology in the cash-equities market.

Hedge funds that we follow lost some interest in Banco Santander in the first quarter, with only 25 of them having reported a stake in the company as of the end of March, down from 31 as of the end of December.

Stock Upgrade

Shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) are up by 9% this morning after the stock was upgraded by Seaport Global Securities to ‘Neutral’ from the previous rating of ‘Sell’. The firm reduced its price target on the stock to $8.00 however, down from $9.00. Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) is trading smack dab in the middle of the current and former price targets, at $8.50 per share. Analysts at Goldman Sachs also recently adjusted their rating, lowering it to ‘Neutral’ from the previous ‘Buy’ rating and reduced their price target to $12.75 per share. The company is set to release its second quarter financial results on July 27, with analysts looking for $376 million in revenue and a loss of $0.50 per share.

Hedge fund interest in Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) picked up during the first quarter, as the number of long positions in the stock rose to 43 by the end of March from 40 at the beginning of January.

Disclosure: None