Why These 5 Stocks Are Making Big Moves Today

Oil is slumping on Tuesday, which is dragging the stock markets down with it, as all major U.S stock indexes are down by more than 0.6%. Among some of the most relevant movers today we can count Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), and Inventergy Global Inc (NASDAQ:INVT). Let’s take a look into the events driving the moves we’re witnessing in these stocks today and see what the funds in our database think about these companies.

Our research determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

Back to the stocks that interest us, let’s start with Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), which is down by about 2.9% this afternoon following the announcement of the company’s third quarter financial results for fiscal year 2016. Earnings of $1.21 per share came in $0.02 above the Street’s consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.85 billion, up by 6.9% year-over-year, beat estimates by $10 million. Same-restaurant sales also rose by 6.2% in the fiscal third quarter thanks to all of the holding company’s brands posting strong figures, headlined by the 9.9% same-store sales growth at Bahama Breeze, while Olive Garden delivered 6.8% comparable store growth.

Despite the positive results, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock is down on the announcement that Starboard Value’s Jeffrey Smith has stepped down from the company’s Board of Directors. Starboard was the largest shareholder of record at Darden at the end of the fourth quarter, with 11.63 million shares. However, in the first quarter of 2016, the firm disclosed several decreases to its exposure, with its position standing at 6.68 million shares as of March 15. On top of Starboard, another 31 funds in our database were long the stock at the end of 2015.

Next up is Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which is also down today, by roughly 2.75%, following an earnings call of its own. Before the bell rang this morning, the company reported earnings of $1.31 per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, $0.03 above the Street’s estimates. Nonetheless, revenue of $30.18 billion, up by 13.6% year-over-year, fell $480 million short of expectations.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) is one of the most popular consumer stocks among the hedge funds in our database. At the end of the fourth quarter, 78 firms held long stakes in the company, with their positions accounting for 7.4% of its outstanding shares. Among them was Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, which, in spite of a 46% reduction to its holding over the fourth quarter, remained the largest shareholder in our system with 12.77 million shares.

We run through what is happening with three of the day’s biggest movers on the next page.

Shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) are trading up by more than 12% today after the company announced that CEO Sehat Sutardja and President Weili Dai are stepping down from their positions, effective immediately. The news was welcomed by investors, as an internal investigation started about a month ago blamed a “tone at the top” for pressuring salespeople to meet financial targets. Furthermore, the company said last Friday that its annual financial report would be delayed, and that it expects “significantly lower” revenue for the year, compared to the previous one.

Not only is the market bullish on Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), but also analysts at Brean Capital, which upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ today, setting a $12.50 price target on it and arguing that the management changes “will be a catalyst and result in restructuring and/or sales of some or all of its businesses, which we believe will unlock shareholder value.” Among the funds that could be reaping the benefits of a surge in the stock is Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, which disclosed ownership of 22.22 million shares valued at $196 million as of December 31.

Another gainer in Tuesday trading is Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), which is up by more than 10.4% after the company said it had completed its internal accounting review and found no additional financial fallout. Company chair Robert Ingram assured that “After conducting more than 70 interviews and reviewing over one million documents, the ad hoc committee has not identified any additional items requiring restatements beyond those matters previously disclosed.” Also helping the stock rise was the announcement that the company plans to issue its annual 10-K filing by April 29.

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is one of the largest shareholders of record in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) and has famously suffered heavily from the investment. The fund recently disclosed a 9% stake in the company comprised of about 30.71 million shares, with 9.12 million of those shares underlying over-the-counter American-style call options. In addition to Pershing Square, 82 other funds in our database were long Valeant at the end of the fourth quarter, with their combined stakes accounting for more than a third of the company’s total shares.

Finally, there’s Inventergy Global Inc (NASDAQ:INVT), which is up by roughly 35% on Tuesday afternoon after the company announced its fiscal year 2015 financial results. While the firm posted a net loss of $3.41 per share, revenue of $4.88 million was 577.8% higher than the previous fiscal year. It should be noted that most of the revenue came from the sale of two patent families, for $4 million. Also noteworthy, gross margin rose to 77% in fiscal year 2015 from negative 2% in fiscal year 2014. Among the funds that we track, only two were long Inventergy Global Inc (NASDAQ:INVT) at the end of the fourth quarter. However, on February 8, a third fund, Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management, disclosed a long position in the stock comprising 28,547 shares.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.