Apple, Alphabet, and SolarCity Among 5 Stocks in the Spotlight Today

Monsanto Shareholders Want a Higher Bid

Although Bayer recently raised its offer to acquire Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) to $125 per share from $122, major Monsanto shareholders would like Bayer to raise its price even further, to at least $130 per share according to the German Handelsblatt newspaper. Monsanto previously declined Bayer’s $122 per share offer as being too low. Shares of the agricultural tech company are 0.22% in the green on the news. Of the 766 active funds that we track, 51 owned $2.45 billion in Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) holdings on March 31, up from 38 funds on December 31, but down from $3.22 billion in holdings.

SolarCity Rallies on Funding

SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) shares have surged by almost 4% in afternoon trading after the company announced that it has raised $345 million in tax equity in June and July to finance new solar projects. In addition, SolarCity has also increased its existing debt aggregation facility to $760 million, a rise of $110 million from the previous level. Being able to raise capital on a standalone basis is very important for SolarCity, as it will need money from the markets to grow in case its merger with Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) doesn’t go through. The number of funds in our system with holdings in SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) fell by six quarter-over-quarter to 23 as of the end of March.

Homebuilder Confidence Dips

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) shares have retreated by around half-a-percent today after a monthly survey of NAHB members showed homebuilder confidence coming in slightly below expectations. According to the data from the survey, the NAHB housing market index came in at 59 for the month of July, below the expectation of 60. Given that homes are major ticket items, confidence is very important for both buyers and suppliers. 43 funds in our database had a long position in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) at the end of March.

Disclosure: None