Why Traders Are Buzzing About MGM, Apple, and Three Other Companies Today

Although crude futures are well in the green, the three indexes have opened in the red on Friday. The Dow and S&P 500 are off by 0.2% while the NASDAQ index has lost around 0.50%.

In this article, we take a closer look at five stocks that are buzzing today, including MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN), and Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) and see how elite funds are positioned among them.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

Ellica / Shutterstock.com

Higher EBITDA Seen at MGM 

MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) shares have advanced by around 2% after the company said that its profit growth plan will deliver $400 million in additional EBITDA per year, up from the previous $300 million. Following the announcement, analysts at Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target to $29 from $27 and reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating. MGM shares are up 6% year-to-date so far. Among the funds we track, 55 funds owned $2.03 billion worth of MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM)’s stock, which accounted for 16.70% of the float on March 31, versus 49 funds and $2.12 billion, respectively, on December 31.

Rumors Send BioMarin Shares Higher

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) is 2.4% in the green today on the back of rumors that Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) might be interested in buying the company. BioMarin has several drugs on the market and in its pipeline for patients with serious rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases, including Vimizim for Morquio A Syndrome and Kuvan for PKU. Shares of the company are down around 20% year-to-date. A total of 44 funds from our database owned shares of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) at the end of the first quarter, up by one over the quarter.

On the next page, we examine Apple, Elizabeth Arden, and Revlon.