Why Yum, Booz Allen Hamilton, Alnylam, and More Are in the Spotlight

Many traders are watching crude futures today to see if WTI can break out of the $50 per barrel mark. On one hand, there will likely be strong resistance given the past failures of several rallies at that level, and the recent commentary by Goldman Sachs which claimed that oil’s rally would run into a wall of resistance at $55. On the other hand, WTI has rallied strongly in recent days and sentiment around the commodity is somewhat bullish.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at five stocks that are commanding the spotlight today, which are Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY), The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO), and Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN). We’ll also delve into the latest 13F data to uncover how the smart money traded each stock during the second quarter.

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Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) shares are 2% lower in extended market trading after the company reported earnings of $1.09 per share on revenue of $3.32 billion for its third quarter. Yum’s bottom-line results were in-line with the Street’s estimates, while the company’s top-line missed by $200 million. According to the company, same-store sales inched up 4% year-over-year for its KFC division, including U.S. same-store sales growing by 6%. China core operating profit jumped by 14%, and the company is on track to finalize the separation of its operations in China on November 1, 2016. Year-to-date through October 4, the company has repurchased 54.5 million shares at an average price of $82. Yum expects to repurchase an additional $0.9 billion worth of its shares before the end of 2016. Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital raised its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 560% during the second quarter to just under 10 million shares at the end of June.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH) is in the spotlight after the company’s stock fell by 3.7% on Wednesday on the news that one of its employees had been arrested by the FBI. The employee, who has since been fired, has been charged with the theft of government property, particularly in relation to classified information used by the NSA. Booz Allen is cooperating fully with the government to help it get to the bottom of the case. Of the 749 hedge funds that we track which filed 13Fs for the June quarter, 27 of them were long Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH) at the end of the second quarter, up by nine funds from the end of the first quarter.

On the next page, we’ll find out why Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, and Resources Connection are taking it on the chin in extended trading.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) shares are down by more than 42% in after-hours after the company announced that it has decided to discontinue development of revusiran, an investigational RNA interference therapeutic that was being developed for the treatment of hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy. The company made the decision based upon the recommendation of the ENDEAVOUR Phase 3 study Data Monitoring Committee, which specifically found that the benefit-risk profile for revusiran no longer supported continued dosing. Data from the latest study showed that patients taking the treatment were more likely to die than those receiving a placebo. Alnylam will continue to develop patisiran, which is currently in Phase 3 development for the treatment of hATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. 25 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned 6.50% of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY)’s outstanding shares on June 30.

The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO) shares are around 10% in the red in after-hours trading mainly on the back of the aforementioned Alnylam news (The Medicines Company and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals have been collaborating on the advancement of ALN-PCSsc for several years). Alnylam said the following in its press release:

“Based on a current assessment of the safety data across the Company’s other programs, which include the ALN-PCSsc program partnered with The Medicines Company, there is no evidence of a drug-related neuropathy signal in over 800 treated subjects and patients with exposure of up to 34 months.”

Nonetheless, traders are shooting first and asking questions later. In addition, The Medicines Company also provided a progress update on its ongoing ORION-1 Study of PCSK9si. Based on the review of safety data, no material safety issue has been observed. 26 funds owned $621.58 million in The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO) shares on June 30, which accounted for 26.40% of the float.

Traders are watching Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN) after the company reported earnings of $0.15 per share for the first quarter of its fiscal 2017 year, $0.02 below the consensus analyst estimate. Revenue for the period came in at $143.39 million, down by 3.3% year-over-year, but $0.86 million ahead of the Street’s consensus. Gross margin was 38%, down from 38.7% in the same quarter of its previous fiscal year, while adjusted EBITDA margin was 8.5%, well under the 10.6% figure for the comparable quarter a year earlier. Also during the three-month period, Resources Connection bought back around 375,000 shares of common stock for a total of $5.7 million. 12 funds in our system had a long position in Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN) at the end of June. Shares are down by 3% in extended trading.

Disclosure: None