McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACRX) & More: Here’s Why These Stocks Are Trending Today

The US stock market is trading higher today as investors remain on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week. This morning a series of economic data was released, however, the data does not provide any clarity on what the Fed will do come next Wednesday. The Fed spooked the markets last week, when one of its more dovish officials said that holding rates too low for too long could cause financial instability. With all eyes on the Fed, investors are expected to be cautious.

However, some stocks are still seeing some interest from investors today, including Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRX), Acasti Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ACST), and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG). In this article, we will take a closer look at the latest developments surrounding these stocks and will assess what the funds from our database think about the companies in question.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) announced the pricing of its secondary offering of some 11.98 million shares of its common stock, which were valued at $4.30 per share. The company expects the secondary offering to close on September 20 and Star Bulk Carriers plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. Among the funds we track, seven held shares of Star Bulk Carriers, unchanged over the quarter, while the total value of their positions amounted to $91.55 million and amassed 70.40% of the stock at the end of June.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has received final offers from three groups, which include private equity firms Carlyle Group and TPG Capital, for its outlets in China and Hong Kong, according to a report by Reuters, citing sources. The report further added that Carlyle is bidding jointly with CTIC Group, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate, while TPG is joining hands with Wumart Stores. It had been earlier reported that the fast food chain was considering the sale of its outlets in China and Hong Kong and had hired Morgan Stanley as its investment banker to conduct the sale of the business, whose value could amount to $3.0 billion. A total of 63 of the 749 funds we track held $3.03 billion worth of McDonald’s shares at the end of the June quarter, which compares to 83 funds that held nearly $4 billion worth of stock a quarter earlier.

On the next page, we are going to discuss AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Acasti Pharma, and Harley-Davidson.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRX) is up sharply in early trading today after providing an update on its investigational product candidate ARX-04. The company reported that ARX-04 was well tolerated in the management of moderate-to-severe acute pain in post-operative patients participating in a Phase 3 study. The subjects in the study included elderly patients and also those that had an organ impairment. AcelRx also said that its Phase 3 program is now complete and it plans to file an New Drug Application (NDA) in 2016 itself.  At the end of the second quarter, nine of the funds we track held $21.38 million worth of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals shares, compared to nine funds holding $25.03 million worth of shares at the end of the first quarter. The hedge fund holdings accounted for 17.50% of the company’s outstanding shares at the end of the second quarter.

Acasti Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ACST) has seen a sharp pullback of over 17% on some profit taking after Wednesday’s huge rally. Yesterday, the company announced successful results from a bridging study that will support an abbreviated approval pathway in the U.S. for CaPre (omega-3 phospholipid), the company’s product candidate for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia. Among the hedge funds in our database, two held $379,000 worth of Acasti Pharma shares at the end of the June quarter.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has seen its fiscal 2016 and 2017 outlook lowered by UBS earlier today. UBS analysts noted that the company’s inventory levels indicate there is downside risk to its forward guidance. Harley-Davidson shares have had a decent year so far, gaining more than 11%, compared to a gain of more than 4% for the S&P 500. However, the weak outlook could put some pressure on the stock. Among the funds we track, 20 held approximately $499 million worth of Harley-Davidson shares at the end of the second quarter, which represented 6.10% of the total outstanding shares.

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