A Look at Five Stocks that Are Trending on Thursday

Markets remain bearish on Thursday, making it the sixth straight day of losses and the longest bearish run since early 2016. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve kept the rate unchanged but warned of slowing economic growth and the repercussions of Brexit. Several stocks are on the radar of investors today, including TransUnion (NYSE:TRU), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) and BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX). In this article, we will take a look at the reasons behind the movement of these stocks today and see what hedge funds think about them.

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TransUnion Acquires Auditz

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) is in the spotlight today after the company announced late Wednesday that it had acquired Auditz LLC, a healthcare services company that uses proprietary technology to make payments tracking and recovery systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a statement, Jim Peck, CEO of TransUnion, said that the company continues to invest in strategic growth, and healthcare is a key element of this strategy. Mr. Peck added that Auditz is a great addition to TransUnion’s portfolio, and it will help in strengthening TransUnion’s healthcare business. Among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 24 funds were bullish on TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) at the end of the first quarter of 2016. The aggregate value of their stakes was approximately $283.6 million.

Lloyds Banking Group Wins Bondholders Case

UK Supreme Court has ruled in the favor of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) in the bondholders case, saying that the bank had been entitled to buy back the bonds at their original issue price, and its early redemption of 3.3 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) of bonds was lawful. After the ruling, investors who had bought bonds issued by mutual will get lower payouts and suffer losses on future returns. Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG)’s stock is trading around 2.50% lower so far today. Only seven funds from our system were long Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) at the end of the first quarter, up from five funds a quarter earlier. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns 84.27 million shares of the company, according to its latest 13F filing.

 

On the next page, we will see why Wal-Mart, AMC and BioTime are making headlines today.

Wal-Mart Stores To Cut Jobs

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s has inched down today after the company announced that it plans to cut some back-office accounting jobs at approximately 500 of its U.S. stores this week. The layoffs are part of the company’s effort to increase efficiency and focused spending on store employees who interact with customers. Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is one of the 54 hedge funds from our database that reported stakes in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) as of the end of March. It owns 55.23 million shares of the company.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Gets an Upgrade

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC)’s stock climbed more than 1% after financial services firm B. Riley & Co upgraded the company to “Buy” from “Neutral” with a price target of $34.75. B.Riley said that AMC’s acquisition of Carmike Cinemas Inc. (CKEC) will improve the entertainment company’s EBITDA growth during a stronger 2017/2018 box office cycle. As of the end of the first quarter, 15 funds racked by us are bullish on AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC).  Israel Englander’s Millennium Management owns 641,695  shares of the company.

BioTime Selling Common Stock

BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX)’s stock has plunged more than 7% today after it announced to sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering on Wednesday. BioTime is making a public offering of around 7.32 million shares of its common stock at a price $2.39 per share. The gross proceeds from the offering are expected to be around $17.5 million. The offering is expected to close on June 21. Neal C. Bradsher’s Broadwood Capital is the biggest shareholder of BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX), among the funds we track. It has 22.16 million shares of the company as of the end of March.

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