Executive Shuffling, Bullish Write-ups, and Analyst Rating Changes: Here’s Why These 5 Stocks Are Trending

Zoetis CFO Switches Teams

According to the Wall Street Journal, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) may be getting a new CFO by the name of Paul Herendeen. Mr. Herendeen, incidentally, was the CFO of another of Valeant Board member Bill Ackman’s favorite stocks, Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS). During his tenure at Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS), Mr. Herendeen successfully cut costs and increased productivity. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) bulls hope that he will be able to do the same at Valeant, which needs to increase profitability and enact stronger accounting measures.

As previously mentioned, Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square is a big shareholder of both companies, with holdings of around 21 million shares in both Valeant and Zoetis at the end of June.

Bullish Write-up at Barron’s For Mattel 

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) is the beneficiary of a mild “Barron’s Bounce” today, as its shares are up by 1% in a flat market. According to a Barron’s write-up over the weekend, Mattel shares could rally by as much as 20% over the next 12 months as the company’s overhaul of its Barbie franchise begins to pay dividends. The financial magazine cites an upcoming Barbie movie that could potentially juice merchandise sales as one of the reasons to be bullish on Mattel. In addition, Barron’s likes how Mattel trades for a sub-20-times 2018 EPS multiple and sports a 4.6% dividend yield. 34 funds that we track were long Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) at the end of the second quarter, down by three quarter-over-quarter.

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