Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Among the Day’s Trending Stocks

Las Vegas Sands Agrees to Pay $2 Million Fine

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) shares are down by 0.53% this morning after the company reached a deal with regulatory authorities in Nevada. According to the agreement, the casino company will pay a fine of $2 million on the accusations of accounting violations in China and anti-money-laundering failures in Las Vegas. The recent allegations by the regulatory authorities are also linked to an agreement between Las Vegas Sands and the Justice Department, due to which the company avoided criminal prosecution by making a $47 million payment. The company also accepted that it failed to report suspicious financial activity by one of its major gambling customers.

Overall, 24 funds that we track had long positions in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) on December 31, down from 29 on September 30. Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management had 607,578 shares of the company at the end of March.

AstraZeneca’s Cancer Drug Gets Orphan Status

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) announced on Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority has given ‘Orphan’ status designation to its cancer treatment Selumetinib, for a rare type of thyroid cancer. Orphan status is given to treatments which have the potential to curb rare, life-threatening diseases and results in special development and market exclusivity incentives. Selumetinib is being tested on the patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer who do not respond to radioactive iodine treatment. The treatment failed to pass a late-stage trial for the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma in combination with dacarbazine last year.

Out of approximately 786 funds that we track, 20 were long AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) at the end of 2015. Fisher Asset Management owned 233,409 shares of the company as of March 31.

Bayer AG Looking to Buy Monsanto

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) has jumped by 8.81% this morning on the news that Bayer AG, a German chemical company, is considering a bid to acquire Monsanto, which is a major competitor of Bayer in the U.S. A possible deal between the two companies would result in the world’s largest supplier of seeds and farm chemicals. The source said that Bayer is having internal discussions with its advisers as to whether or not to buy Monsanto, as well as explore other options ranging from potential asset sales to joint ventures.

Harris Associates has more than 5.00 million shares of Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) in its portfolio as of March 31.

Disclosure: None