Why These 5 Stocks Are Making Headlines Today

It’s been a rather quiet morning on Wall Street, at least in terms of the performance of the overall market. In contrast to previous sessions, the S&P 500 is flat and the NASDAQ is off by only a few tenths of a point. Although the broader market may be inactive, five stocks in particular are making headlines, some with potentially far reaching ramifications. In this article we’ll examine the latest news on Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ), and Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE), and analyze what the smart money thinks of these companies.

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The big merger between Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is officially dead. Pfizer and Allergan originally planned to merge in what would have been a record-setting $160 inversion billion deal, one that would have saved Pfizer a substantial amount in taxes. The Treasury Department put an end to those benefits on Monday however, issuing new rules to curb the advantages of tax inversions, and in particular as they related to this particular merger. Pfizer will pay Allergan a $150 million breakup fee for its troubles. The latter company’s CEO Brent Saunders said the following in regards to the quashed deal:

“While we are disappointed that the Pfizer transaction will no longer move forward, Allergan is poised to deliver strong, sustainable growth built of a set of powerful attributes. Our pipeline is one of the strongest in the industry, loaded with 70 mid-to-late-stage programs including 14 expected approvals and 16 regulatory submissions in 2016 alone.”

Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) is the most widely held stock among the funds in our database, with 159 elite firms holding Allergan shares as of the end of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, 109 funds held Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) at the end of December, up from 97 funds at the end of September. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management was among the funds that held shares in both stocks, including a holding of 32.3 million shares of Pfizer. Both stocks are up by around 3% this morning as investors begin to reassess and value the two companies on their stand-alone merits.

On the next page, we examine the latest developments surrounding Wynn Resorts Limited, Constellation Brands Inc, and Cree Inc.