A Look at Five Stocks Trending on Friday: Avis Budget Group Inc. (CAR), Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) & More

Unlike the previous Friday, the last day of this workweek looks relatively tame as many traders are less worried about an immediate interest rate hike.

Among the stocks Wall Street is focusing on today are Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR), Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), and Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Let’s take a closer look at the latest developments involving these companies and assess the smart money sentiment towards them.

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Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) is trending today after the company announced it will replace Questar Corp in the S&P MidCap 400 index after the end of trading on Friday. Due to the index inclusion, some mutual funds/institutions will likely have to buy Avis Budget shares as part of their mandate. However, whether the anticipated buying has already been priced into Avis’ price is another question. Shares of the company have retreated 3.33% year-to-date and trade for 10 times forward earnings as some investors remain concerned about sector pricing. Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group established a new stake in Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) of over 1.7 million shares during the second quarter.

Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB)’s shares are in the red after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department had proposed the bank to pay a $14 billion fine to settle various mortgage-securities cases related to the financial crisis. The proposed Justice Department fine is multiples of what many investors previously expected (of around $2-$3 billion). Understandably, Deutsche Bank has refused to play ball, responding that “Deutsche Bank has no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited.” Not many investors from our database were bullish on Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) in the second quarter, as only 15 reported a stake as of the end of June.

On the next page, we examine Apple, Marvell Technology Group Ltd, and Tesla Motors.

Count the financial magazine Barron’s as the latest fan of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which recently introduced the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to strong demand. In the article, ‘Apple Stock and iPhone 7 Both Look Like Winners’, Teresa Revas stated that the large number of customers waiting to upgrade from the iPhone 6, Samsung’s recent stumbles, and other factors could potentially provide room for the iPhone to ‘surprise on the upside’. Given Apple’s reasonable forward P/E of 12.9 and around 2% dividend yield, the author thinks investors should stay long. Also helping Apple attain some buzz from investors is CEO Tim Cook’s this week comments  that the company favors augmented reality over virtual reality. Cook’s comments suggest that Apple might be working on some augmented reality software/features in the future. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in Apple by 56% in the second quarter to over 15.2 million shares held at the end of June.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) is in the spotlight after SEC filings showed that Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value recently raised its position to 6.6% of the shares outstanding from the previous 4% (see more details). Like other semi-conductor stocks this year, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) has performed well in 2016, with its shares advancing over by 44% year-to-date. Other smart money funds have also been increasing their positions, albeit in the second quarter. According to our data, 38 smart money funds owned shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) at the end of June, up 7 from the previous quarter.

Although there is some controversy coming out of China over Tesla’s autopilot and its potential role in a previous accident in January, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) showed investors that it is more than just a car company after winning a contract to supply 20 megawatts of energy storage to the utility Southern California Edison to prevent future blackouts. Tesla said:

“Upon completion, this system will be the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. When fully charged, this system will hold enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles.”

Many investors believe Tesla’s future is more about manufacturing energy storage solutions than it is about making electric vehicles. A total of 36 funds we track had a bullish position in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) at the end of June, down by three funds from the previous quarter.

Disclosure: None