A Closer Look at Five Stocks Gaining Ground on Friday

GenMark Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNMK) saw its rating upgraded by Cowen and Company, which boosted the stock by over 16%. The analysts upgraded GenMark to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ citing the performance of the company’s ePlex system in the EU and opportunities that will arise once the product goes on sale in the US most likely next year. The stock is now up by more than 32% for the year, helped to a large extent by the gains in trading today. Among the funds we follow at Insider Monkey, six held $71.01 million worth of GenMark Diagnostics shares at the end of the June, compared to seven funds holding $42.23 million worth of stock a quarter earlier.

Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) is gaining momentum after investors reacted positively to the company’s decision to sell its 26% stake in Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, which is its joint venture with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. The company will sell its stake to Brand Energy in a transaction valued at $232 million. The consideration includes certain obligations under the joint venture. Harsco believes that the proceeds from the sale will strengthen its balance sheet. At the end of June, 15 funds from our database were long Harsco Corporation, holding $58.44 million worth of stock, compared to 18 funds with long positions worth $53.21 million in aggregate a quarter earlier.

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