What’s the Deal With These 5 Heavily Traded Stocks Today?

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The experts are starting to turn more bullish on smartphone giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose stock is up by a modest 0.4% in afternoon trading. Analysts at Needham initiated coverage on the tech giant with a rating of ‘Strong Buy’ and a $150 price target, suggesting that shares of the company have 36% upside from present levels. The Needham analysts like how Apple dominates the wealthiest segment of the smartphone market and feel the company has pricing power. Our data shows that many investors agree with Needham’s bullish sentiment. 133 elite funds held $17.7 billion worth of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares on December 31. That’s pretty much unchanged from 133 funds with $17.4 billion in shares at the end of September.

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Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) and Mitel Networks Corp (NASDAQ:MITL) are up by 8% and 4% respectively on strong volume on the back of a Bloomberg report stating that the two are in advanced merger talks. According to people with knowledge of the deal, Mitel could potentially buy Polycom for $12.50 per share in stock plus cash, valuing Polycom at around $1.7 billion. The merger would be a win for both companies, giving them greater efficiencies from larger scale. An announcement of the merger could come as early as next week, although there is no guarantee of a deal. 18 elite funds owned 21.7% of Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM)’s shares at the end of 2015, while nine elite funds owned 12.6% of Mitel Networks Corp (NASDAQ:MITL)’s shares at the end of December. Among the shareholders of both companies is Paul Singer‘s Elliott Management, which asked the two companies to make just such a combination.

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Disclosure: None

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