The markets are recovering today after yesterday’s Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) fear inspired a sell-off.
In this article, we will find out why four major tech stocks are trending, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and why one biotech, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH), is also in the spotlight. In addition, we are going to see what the investors we track at Insider Monkey think about the companies in question.
Through extensive research, we determined that imitating some of the picks of hedge funds and other institutional investors can help generate market-beating returns over the long run. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these investors, since they are usually less followed by the broader market and are less price-efficient. Our backtests that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that following the 15 most popular small-caps among hedge funds can help a retail investor beat the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (see the details here).
GongTo/Shutterstock.com
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) shares are in the green after the company announced that its investigational drug, Voclosporin, achieved the primary and all pre-specified secondary endpoints in a Phase 2b Aura-LV study for Lupus Nephritis. The primary end point is complete remission at 24 weeks while the pre-specified endpoints include partial remission, reduction in UPCR over the 24 week treatment period, among other things. Hedge fund sentiment in Aurinia has been relatively stable. Of the 749 funds we track, five funds owned $9.64 million worth of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH)’s stock, which accounted for 9.10% of the float on June 30.
Given the increasing feeling in Silicon Valley that the home speaker in a vital component of the connected home, it’s not surprising that Variety reports Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)‘s Google unit is expected to introduce its own smart speaker, Google Home, at a press event next week. Due to the novelty of the category, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Echo currently dominates the sector, with analysts estimating the e-commerce giant selling over 3 million units this year and potentially 10 million units in 2017. Given the smart speaker’s language processing skills, analysts increasingly view it as a physical search bar, meaning that it will be important for Google to have a strong presence in the category to keep its lucrative search market share in the future. One potential way for Google to do so is undercutting with price – many analysts speculate Google Home will cost around $130 per unit, or $50 under Echo’s current price. Natixis Global Asset Management‘s Harris Associates raised its stake in in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10% to over 2.18 million shares in the second quarter.
Follow Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Follow Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
On the next page, we find out why traders are talking about salesforce.com, Microsoft Corporation, and LinkedIn Corp.
