Why These 5 Stocks Are Winning Today

The markets have edged lower today on the final trading day of what has been a very crucial week. The focus this week was on the Federal Reserve, which concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. The Fed struck a cautious note, which boosted risk assets such as equities, as it delayed raising interest rates.

Although all three major indexes have edged lower in trading today, there are some stocks bucking the broader market’s trend. These include Bioline RX Ltd (NASDAQ:BLRX), Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MRNS), Endo International plc- Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), all of which are soaring in today’s session. In this article, we’ll take a look at the latest developments involving these stocks and will also highlight the hedge fund sentiment towards them.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 700 hedge funds, whose 13F filings we analyze as part of our small-cap strategy. Our research has shown that imitating a portfolio that includes the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds can outperform the market by as much as 95 basis points per month on average (see more details here).

Bioline RX Ltd (NASDAQ:BLRX) announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with BGN Technologies and Hadasit, under which it will in-license a novel treatment for several liver failure conditions, including end-stage liver disease (ESLD) and conditions leading to liver diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The news has boosted Bioline RX’s stock by over 23% in trading today. Five funds in our system held $4.72 million worth of Bioline shares at the end of the June quarter, amassing 17.50% of the total outstanding shares.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MRNS) has surged by nearly 23% today after the company provided an update on its Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy of open-label ganaxolone as an adjunctive therapy for uncontrolled seizures in female children with PCDH19 mutation and other rare genetic epilepsies. The study will now be expanded to 50 patients, from the previous figure of 20. Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MRNS) shares are still down by 72% this year after ganaxolone failed a late-stage study in mid-June assessing its efficacy in treating adults with drug-resistant focal onset seizures. The number of hedge funds in our system long Marinus Pharmaceuticals stood at three at the end of the second quarter, with them holding approximately $1.3 million worth of the company’s shares.

We’ll run through three more of the day’s winners on the next page.

Endo International plc- Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) has soared by over 16% after the company announced the appointment of Paul V. Campanelli as its President and CEO, effective immediately. Campanelli was serving as the President of Endo’s Generic and OTC drugs unit, Par Pharmaceutical, which he was the CEO of until it was acquired by Endo last September. The unit accounted for around 60% of Endo’s total revenue in the first half of 2016 and Campanelli’s appointment could signal a shift away from acquisitions and towards generic drugs, which the market appears to think highly of. Endo International plc- Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) was held by 36 funds in our database at the end of June, down from 49 at the end of March.

Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) shares have risen by over 3% today, hitting a 52-week high after the company combined its class A and class B shares into a single class of stock. All shares will now have the same voting power, which Yelp does not anticipate having any material effect on its operations. Yelp is also currently embroiled in a lawsuit over a negative review posted on its site, which the law firm that was the target of the review has called defamatory. Yelp is taking the case to the California Supreme Court after an appeals court ordered it to remove the review. 45 funds that we track held $953.73 million worth of Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) shares at the end of the second quarter, compared to 33 funds holding $605.32 million worth of shares at the end of the first quarter.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) shares are headed for a sharply higher finish for the week, with the stock extending its gains in trading today by another 4.23%. Shares were further buoyed by Credit Suisse today, which called them “very undervalued” and saying that the market has become overly negative on the fundamentals of domestic flat rolled sector. United States Steel was also given a ratings upgrade from KeyBanc this week, which upgraded it to ‘Sector Weight’ from ‘Underweight’. The ratings upgrade reflects the firm’s expectations for more competitive market conditions over the next year. The number of funds in our database long United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) stood at 26 at the end of the second quarter, with their aggregate positions valued at $403.24 million, accounting for 16.30% of the company’s outstanding shares.

Disclosure: None