Today’s Trending Stocks: Sarepta, Humana, HTG Molecular Diagnostics, and More

After yesterday’s rather sharp fall, Wall Street is quiet today as the Dow is up only 14 points while the NASDAQ is 0.01% in the green. In this article, we analyze some stocks that are more volatile than the broader market and that are capturing traders’ attention.

Let’s take a closer look at Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM), Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG), and HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM) and see what the smart money investors tracked by us think about them.

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Biotech Stocks 7
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) is 1.9% in the green after various investors circulated an Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) review request for Sarepta’s Exondys 51. The insurer previously dealt the drug a blow by saying that Exondys 51 is considered investigational ‘and not medically necessary for all indications, including but not limited to the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy’. With this review request, investors may get more clarity on exactly what Anthem’s stance is for the drug. Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management held 2.74 million shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) at the end of June.

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Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) shares have dropped by over 5% after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a report showing that the percentage of Humana’s July 31 membership in 4-Star plans or higher declined to around 37%, or 1.17 million members, from around 78%, or 2.15 million members, in the prior year. Humana has responded by saying that the decline does not ‘take into account certain operational actions the company intends to take over the coming quarters to mitigate any potential negative impact of these published ratings on Star bonus revenues for 2018’. Seperately, Humana management raised full-year EPS guidance to $8.80 on a GAAP basis and $9.50 on an adjusted basis. Third-quarter EPS guidance was also increased to $3.07 on a GAAP basis and $3.15 on an adjusted basis. Of the around 749 funds that we track, 64 owned shares of Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) at the end of June, unchanged from the previous quarter.

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On the next page, we find out why Western Digital Corp, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR), and HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc are trending.Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) is in the spotlight after Cleveland Research’s Kevin Rottinghaus said the stock had more potential near-term upside (even though he rates the stock as a ‘Neutral’). Given his research, Rottinghaus thinks SSDs could surprise in terms of pricing and demand among the client and enterprise sectors. Yesterday, the market research firm IDC reported that global PC shipments fell by 3.9% year-over-year to around 68 million units in the third quarter. That number was better than estimates, and could help Western Digital if PC shipments outperform. The number of funds from our database with holdings in Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) rose by six quarter-over-quarter to 48 at the end of June.

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Traders are watching Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) after the bank announced that it will trim 1,230 jobs as part of the company’s plan to become more competitive. Shares of the bank are down by 36% year-to-date due to Brexit uncertainty, the British government’s plan to divest a big part of its stake in the bank, the weaker pound, and the unresolved Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) issues with the DoJ. Hopefully, the lower expenses will help Lloyds nurse back to health. A total of 10 funds tracked by us owned shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG) at the end of the second quarter, up by three funds from the previous quarter.

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Last but not least, nano-cap HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM) is 56% in the green after the company announced that it has entered into a broad companion diagnostics master agreement with Merck KGaA to allow the latter to utilize the HTG EdgeSeq DLBCL cell of origin assay in the latter’s M7583, selective and irreversible inhibitor of Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase program. Although no financial details were disclosed, CEO TJ Johnson said:

“We are honored to be chosen as the diagnostic development partner for Merck KGaA’s BTK program and our team is now focused on the near-term milestones. Additionally, having a master companion diagnostic agreement paves the way for additional development collaborations.”

Just two funds from our database owned $605,000 worth of HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM)’s stock, which accounted for 3.20% of the float on June 30, versus one fund and $577,000, respectively, on March 31.

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Disclosure: none