Chipotle, Morgan Stanley Among the Afternoon’s Big Movers

At a time when the S&P 500 is off by 0.9% and crude futures are in the green, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS), Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) are among the major volatile stocks today, making big moves, both upwards and downwards. In the following article, we will examine why investors are buying and selling these stocks and also examine the latest hedge fund activity in them.

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First up is Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), whose stock has surged by 5.3% after the company’s presentation at the ICR Conference in Florida today, in which the emphasis was placed on winning back consumer confidence and restoring margins. Moreover, the company plans to continue with its restaurant expansion, with 235 openings scheduled for this year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) lost popularity among the investors that we track in the third quarter. 28 funds held shares of the company on September 30, down by eight funds over the quarter, and they amassed 4.9% of the float. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was the largest shareholder of Chipotle Mexican Grill among those 28, with 479,400 shares valued at $345.3 million at the end of September.

Moving on, Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS) shares are up by 10% today with no notable news concerning the company today. In recent days, analysts at Leerink Swann upped their EPS estimates for the company’s fiscal year 2015. In a research report, the estimate was improved to a loss of $1.06 per share versus the previous forecast of a loss of $1.07.

Among the funds that we follow, three reported long positions in Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS) as of the end of September, down by two from a quarter earlier. Among those funds from our database that were long the stock was Anand Parekh‘s Alyeska Investment Group, with a stake of 286,924 shares.

On the next page we’ll dig into the golden day for Harmony Gold and the fall of Morgan Stanley.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) is a big mover in afternoon trading, as its shares have risen by over 9% on the day. The move came on the back of an increase in gold prices. The precious metal is trading higher by around 0.1% on the COMEX today.

During the third quarter, Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) also experienced a decrease in popularity among the funds that we track, with eight of them holding long positions at the end of September, compared to ten at the end of June. Renaissance Technologies was also the largest shareholder of Harmony Gold, with 8.19 million shares valued at $4.94 million at the end of September.

Finally, among the big movers today on the wrong side of the ledger is Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Shares of the investment bank are 5% in the red in afternoon trading after analysts at Societe Generale SA downgraded the company to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’, while analysts at Barclays also lowered their price target on the stock to $38 from $39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) gained popularity among the investors that we track in the third quarter. 57 funds held shares of the company on September 30, up by nine over the quarter, and they amassed 3.9% of the float. Among them, Boykin Curry‘s Eagle Capital Management was the largest shareholder, reporting a position of 16.1 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Disclosure: None