Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are on the Move

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).

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Silicom Surges on Earnings Beat

Silicom Ltd. (NASDAQ:SILC) shares have rallied by 12% today after the tech company reported excellent second-quarter results. During the quarter, the company earned $0.63 per share on sales of $26 million, compared to revenue of $17.1 million and earnings of $0.40 per diluted share reported for the second quarter of 2015. Demand was strong in the target markets of cyber security, cloud and SDN, while management is optimistic given the company’s solid pipeline. During the first quarter, the number of funds with holdings in Silicom Ltd. (NASDAQ:SILC) rose by two to five.

Micron Rises on New Shareholder Rights Plan

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is in the spotlight after the company adopted a ‘poison pill’ plan on Friday. For those interested, the exact details about the new ownership limitations can be found here. Although there is no overt buyer, some traders are evidently speculating that management wouldn’t have adopted the pill if there weren’t parties potentially interested. Tsinghua Unigroup was interested in Micron last year, but many investors didn’t think the deal would have gotten regulatory approval due to national security reasons. The number of investors from our database with holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell by 13 quarter-over-quarter to 51 at the end of March.

On the next page, we find out why traders are buying or selling Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Tobira Therapeutics, and Whiting Petroleum Corp.
Santander Delays Earnings Release

Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc (NYSE:SC) shares have sold off to the tune of 10% today after the company delayed the release of its second quarter results due to accounting matters. Although Santander was originally scheduled to release earnings on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, the company decided to delay the filing of the Form 10-Q due to ongoing discussions with current and previous accountants regarding discount accretion and credit loss allowance methodologies. Management has said that they will file as soon as practicable. A total of 25 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned shares of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc (NYSE:SC) at the end of the first quarter, down by six funds from the previous quarter.

Study Results Sink Tobira 

Tobira Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TBRA) shares have more than halved this afternoon after the results of a Phase 2b study showed that the company’s drug candidate, cenicriviroc, failed to meet its primary endpoint of a two-point reduction in the NAFLD Activity Score. Although the drug failed to achieve its primary endpoint, cenicriviroc did show statically significant improvement in fibrosis of at least one stage without worsening NASH after only one year of treatment. Due to that result, management intends to initiate a Phase 3 study in 2017 based on the fibrosis angle. Among the investors we track, nine funds owned $36.57 million worth of Tobira Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TBRA)’s stock, which accounted for 23.90% of the float on March 31, versus nine funds and $52.04 million, respectively, on December 31.

Lower WTI Sinks Whiting

Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) shares are off by 6% today after near month WTI futures fell below $43 per barrel in afternoon trading. Although the supply and demand fundamentals for crude have improved, the last two EIA inventory reports haven’t met analyst expectations in terms of drawdowns and the U.S. Rig count has stubbornly increased despite the falling prices. Crude may need a better-than-expected inventory this week for sentiment to tick up appreciably higher. At the end of March, 43 funds owned shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL), up by three from the previous quarter.

Disclosure: None