Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Among the Day’s Trending Stocks

The markets are off to a slow start today amid a report from the Labor Department which shows that over the last week, jobless claims surged to their highest levels in a year. Some important stocks are in the spotlight today including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN), and Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON).  Let’s take a look at why these stocks are trending today and shed some light on what top investors think of these companies.

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Apple Suppliers Get Less Orders for iPhone 7 Chips After Low Sales Expectations  

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are 1.76% in the red today after a report from Nikkei stated that Apple’s suppliers in Taiwan are expected to get lower orders amid declining demand for the company’s iPhone. Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM), which is Apple’s supplier of A10 chips for the upcoming iPhone 7, expressed that demand for high-end smartphones was “tepid”. Apple recently reported a decline in its quarterly revenue for the first time in 13 years. While investors are counting on Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 to reverse the company’s flagging momentum, several sources quoted by Nikkei were not overly optimistic, saying that the saturation in the smartphone market and potential lack of innovative features in the iPhone 7 could lead to disappointing results.

A total of 133 funds in our database held positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of 2015. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported holding 11.31 million shares of Apple as of March 31.

Caterpillar Ready to Enter Cuban Market

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) CEO Doug Oberhelman announced that the company is ready to enter the Cuban market as soon as the U.S trade embargo with Cuba is lifted. While talking to the media after a meeting with Cuban ministers in Havana, Mr. Doug said that he talked about “a number of projects” during the meeting, including Mariel Harbor, a major harbor project in the West of Havana. The Cuban government is placing heavy importance on Mariel Harbor, seeing it as a potential distribution center to the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Shares of Caterpillar are 0.73% in the red today.

At the end of last year, 31 hedge funds in our system were shareholders of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), with positions worth approximately $997.5 million. Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates owns more than 15 million shares of the company as of March 31.

We will examine the latest news surrounding Las Vegas Sands, AstraZeneca, and Monsanto Company on the next page.

Las Vegas Sands Agrees to Pay $2 Million Fine

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) shares are down by 0.53% this morning after the company reached a deal with regulatory authorities in Nevada. According to the agreement, the casino company will pay a fine of $2 million on the accusations of accounting violations in China and anti-money-laundering failures in Las Vegas. The recent allegations by the regulatory authorities are also linked to an agreement between Las Vegas Sands and the Justice Department, due to which the company avoided criminal prosecution by making a $47 million payment. The company also accepted that it failed to report suspicious financial activity by one of its major gambling customers.

Overall, 24 funds that we track had long positions in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) on December 31, down from 29 on September 30. Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management had 607,578 shares of the company at the end of March.

AstraZeneca’s Cancer Drug Gets Orphan Status

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) announced on Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority has given ‘Orphan’ status designation to its cancer treatment Selumetinib, for a rare type of thyroid cancer. Orphan status is given to treatments which have the potential to curb rare, life-threatening diseases and results in special development and market exclusivity incentives. Selumetinib is being tested on the patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer who do not respond to radioactive iodine treatment. The treatment failed to pass a late-stage trial for the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma in combination with dacarbazine last year.

Out of approximately 786 funds that we track, 20 were long AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) at the end of 2015. Fisher Asset Management owned 233,409 shares of the company as of March 31.

Bayer AG Looking to Buy Monsanto

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) has jumped by 8.81% this morning on the news that Bayer AG, a German chemical company, is considering a bid to acquire Monsanto, which is a major competitor of Bayer in the U.S. A possible deal between the two companies would result in the world’s largest supplier of seeds and farm chemicals. The source said that Bayer is having internal discussions with its advisers as to whether or not to buy Monsanto, as well as explore other options ranging from potential asset sales to joint ventures.

Harris Associates has more than 5.00 million shares of Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) in its portfolio as of March 31.

Disclosure: None