Mattel Jumps On Barbie Sales Surge, Plus 4 Other Trending Stocks

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U.S stock futures point towards a flat market as we near Thursday’s opening bell, as investors are on tenterhooks ahead of vital data on jobless claims and the Federal Reserve’s regional manufacturing survey. The European Central Bank’s first meeting since the Brexit vote is also scheduled to take place today.

Meanwhile, several stocks are making moves this morning, including Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP), Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), and F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV). Let’s find out why these stocks are worth watching today and also analyze hedge fund sentiment towards them.

Academic research has shown that certain insider purchases historically outperformed the market by an average of seven percentage points per year. This effect is more pronounced in small-cap stocks. Another exception is the small-cap stock picks of hedge funds. Our research has shown that imitating the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds outperformed the market by nearly a percentage point per month between 1999 and 2012 (read more details here).

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Galenica AG to Acquire Relypsa

Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) has skyrocketed by more than 58% today after the company agreed to be acquired by Switzerland’s Galenica AG for $32 per share, or approximately $1.53 billion. Galenica’s move stems from its plans to strengthen its Vifor Pharma unit ahead of splitting up its healthcare group. Relypsa is known for its drug to treat dangerous blood potassium levels, known as hyperkalemia, in patients with heart and kidney problems. In related news, analysts at Wedbush reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating for Relypsa and said that the company could get contacted by another prospective bidder after its agreement with Galenica. A total of 14 hedge funds in our system were bullish on Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) at the end of the first quarter.

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Biogen Beats Estimates, CEO Departs

Shares of Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) have gained more than 4% this morning following the company’s better than expected second quarter results. The biopharmaceutical company earned $5.21 per share, sharply up from the estimated $4.68. Revenue of $2.89 billion also topped the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. For the full year, the company sees its revenue coming in at between $11.2 billion and $11.4 billion. Biogen also revealed that its CEO George Scangos will vacate the position after six years, and that the company has identified a successor. 64 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned around $3.1 billion worth of Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) shares as of the end of the first quarter.

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On the next page we continue our discussion of Thursday’s hottest stocks.

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