Here’s Why Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Alphabet, and Three Other Stocks Are in Spotlight on Friday

Although it may not have won the bidding for LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) is certainly trying to make life difficult for the winning bidder for the business social network, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). According to The Wall Street Journal, salesforce.com has stated it would ask regulators in Europe to block the acquisition on anti-competition grounds. Specifically, Salesforce feels that LinkedIn would provide Microsoft with an unfair advantage of being able to block rivals from accessing LinkedIn’s membership/user data if the giant from Seattle chose to. Microsoft Chief legal officer Brad Smith responded back, saying that, ‘the deal has already been cleared to close in the United States, Canada, and Brazil’. Given other regulatory approvals, it is unclear whether European regulators will think any differently. Of the three companies, the smart money liked Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) the most, with 131 funds from our database reporting long positions as of the end of June. Meanwhile, 60 funds held shares of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) and 66 funds were long LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD).

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