350% Gainer Highlights 5 of Today’s Hottest Stocks

Wall Street is in the red today, as the markets await the first results of the meeting of the Federal Reserve that begins this afternoon. European stock markets remain weak, as do commodity prices and Asian stocks, where the markets fell after the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy steady and offered a gloomier view of the country’s economy. However, there are several stocks gaining today, some of which are Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM), Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN), Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CPXX), Childrens Place Inc (NASDAQ:PLCE), and HD Supply Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HDS). In the following article, we will examine why investors are buying these stocks and also examine the latest hedge fund activity in them.

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Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM)’s stock has opened nearly 40% higher on the back of the company posting its financial results for the fourth quarter and full 2015 year. For the quarter ended December 31, Solazyme, now known as TerraVia, reported a revenue decline of 28.3% year-over-year to $10.4 million. Its loss grew to $0.32 per share, though this was smaller than expected. In addition to its quarterly and full year results, the food, nutrition and specialty ingredients company announced an agreement with Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE:UL). The multi-year global supply contract allows Unilever to purchase renewable algae oils for use in personal care products and is expected to represent a total income of more than $200 million for Solazyme during its term. The agreement comes after last week’s announcement that Solazyme is refining its business to focus on food, nutrition and specialty ingredients, leveraging the power of its platform transformational innovation algae and renaming itself Terravia.

Among the funds we track, Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) was not very popular, with only six funds reporting long positions equal to 8.0% of the company’s shares as of the end of December. John Burbank’s Passport Capital was the top shareholder of the stock in our database, with 6.00 million shares held on December 31.

Second on our list of some of the day’s biggest gainers is Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN), whose shares are up by 9% after it was reported that the company is working with Lazard regarding a potential merger, after news that European rivals Nestle and Danone expressed an interest in acquiring the company. This is not the first time the company has been discussed as a potential acquisition target.

Of the 785 elite funds that we track, 38 funds were long Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN) on December 31, with their positions amounting to 7.10% of the company’s float. Among the bulls is Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management, with a holding of 1.76 million shares.

The second page has the details on three more stocks, including one that is up by over 300% today.