Monday’s Trending Stocks: CBS, Medivation, HPE, Boeing, Sagent Pharmaceuticals

The benchmark S&P 500 index has jumped six points on Monday, setting a new all-time high as last week’s strong jobs report continues to buoy market sentiment. Meanwhile, some stocks are being watched closely by investors today, including CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGNT), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE), and Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). Let’s detail the factors drawing attention to these stocks today and analyze hedge fund sentiment towards each of them.

By analyzing the equity portfolios of 750+ top investors, we can see what stocks they are collectively bullish on and use this data to compile a portfolio that can outperform the market. We have determined through this process that the best strategy is to follow the 15 most popular small-cap picks among hedge funds, which have delivered an alpha of around 81 basis points per month in our backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see more details).

CBS Corporation to Split-Off its Radio Network

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) is in the spotlight today after an SEC filing on Friday revealed that the company intends to split off its radio network, CBS Radio, and launch it as an independent public company. CBS filed for an initial offering of $100 million. The filing also shows that CBS Radio plans to take on debt before the stock sale to give to its parent company. No underwriters were named in the IPO. Shares of CBS Corporation have inched up by 0.88% today. Among the funds that we track, 61 held shares of CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) at the end of the first quarter, with the aggregate value of those holdings standing at $2.91 billion.

Boeing Strikes a Deal with the U.K Government  

Boeing Co (NYSE:BA)’s stock has gained more than 1% today after the company struck a deal with the U.K government worth approximately $3.89 billion. According to the deal, the U.K government will buy nine new P8 marine patrol planes from the Seattle-based aerospace firm. Moreover, Boeing will deliver 50 Apache AH-64E attack helicopters and boost spending and create jobs in Britain, according to the agreement. A statement released from British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office also said that Boeing and the British government intend to work together to build a new support and training base at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, creating more than 100 new jobs.

A total of 93 hedge funds in our system were shareholders of Boeing on March 31, amassing approximately $4 billion worth of the company’s stock. John Armitage’s Egerton Capital Limited owned about 4.52 million shares of the company at the end of March.

On the next page we’ll take a look at the latest concerning Sagent Pharmaceuticals, HPE and Medivation.

Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical to Acquire Sagent Pharmaceuticals

Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGNT) has skyrocketed by more than 39% today after the company announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Japan’s Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical for $736 million, or $21.75 per share in cash. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both companies. In a joint statement, Sagent Pharmaceuticals and Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical said that the deal would bring together two generics drugmakers, creating attractive growth opportunities. Out of the over 750 active funds in our database, 12 held long positions in Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGNT) at the conclusion of the first quarter.

HPE Considering the Sale of Software Assets

Investors are watching Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) this morning after a Bloomberg report claimed that the company is considering selling some of its software assets to trim its operations. This step, if executed, would be a part of HPE CEO Meg Whitman’s plan to reduce the company’s overall size of operations to better compete with rivals like Dell. The report claimed that the rumored selloff is expected to affect the assets which were acquired by HPE over the last decade, including Autonomy, Mercury Interactive, and Vertica Systems.

David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management is one of the notable hedge funds that we track which had a stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) at the end of the first quarter. It had more than 27.51 million shares of the company at that time.

AstraZeneca Planning to Bid for Medivation

Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) is making noise today after a report published by the Sunday Times over the weekend claimed that London-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is considering submitting a bid to acquire the company. Among the other candidates already lined up to acquire the San Francisco-based drug maker are Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG). The Sunday Times source added that no formal bid by AstraZeneca has been brought to the table yet.

A total of 49 hedge funds in our database were bullish on Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) at the end of the first quarter. Fred Knoll’s Knoll Capital Management owns about 4.39 million shares of the company as of March 31.

Disclosure: None