Why Facebook, Alphabet, IBM and Two Other Stocks Are Trending Today

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) is diving deeper into blockchain according to the Financial Times. The technology giant is expected to announce a partnership with the Chinese payment settlement network China UnionPay this week. The partnership will save the two companies money in an effort to allow various Chinese bank customers to trade bonus points for different loyalty programs. A total of 53 funds from our database had a bullish position in International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) at the end of the second quarter.

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is trending after Google Capital is said to have co-led a round that invested in room-sharing app Airbnb. According to the people in the know, the round valued Airbnb at $30 billion, which makes the website/app the fourth most valuable private start-up in the world, after first place Uber, and the Chinese companies Didi and Xiaomi. Alphabet’s venture capital arm has also invested in Uber. Many hedge funds are bullish on Alphabet. According to our data, 126 funds own class C shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as of the end of June

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) received an analyst thumbs up today after Karen Short of Barclays raised her rating on the retailer to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’. Short also ramped up her price target to $87 from $70, citing Wal-Mart’s ‘re-emergence as a disruptor’ as a reason to be bullish. At the end of June, 58 investors tracked by us had a bullish position in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) at the end of June, up by four funds from the previous quarter.

Disclosure: none