Why Twitter, eBay, Alibaba, and Two Other Stocks Are Trending

At the beginning of second week of the fourth quarter, three technology stocks and two financial institutions are trending today.

In this article, we examine the reasons why eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), and Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN) are in the spotlight today. In addition, we will assess the hedge fund sentiment towards these stocks.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 750 hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on, can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these funds, which are usually less followed by the broader market and allow for larger price inefficiencies (see the details here).

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Although some traders are anxious about the company’s market-share given Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s recent launch of ‘Marketplace’, Barron’s is bullish on eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY). Writer Jack Hough thinks shares of the venerable e-commerce company could rise by 25% in twelve months as eBay’s management fixes the website’s various problems (and re-platforms) to unlock growth. Given that expectations on the Street are low and eBay’s valuation is reasonable, Hough considers eBay is an ideal investment for contrarians. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies hiked its stake in eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 59% to just over 3 million shares during the second quarter.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares are in the spotlight again after Bloomberg reported that Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)
are all ‘unlikely to make a bid’ according to sources. Moreover, Twitter’s planned board meeting with some outside advisers concerning a potential sale was canceled according to the same sources cited by Bloomberg. If a buyer does not appear, the social media company might have to focus more on streaming live video and potentially make some divestments (and likely cost cuts). More top funds entered into Twitter than left during the second quarter. The number of funds from our database with holdings in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) rose by three quarter-over-quarter to 30 at the end of June.

On the next page, we find out why traders are talking about Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Citigroup, and Banco Santander SA (ADR).