Here’s Why Traders Are Buzzing about These Five Stocks

Fading chances of a rate hike soothed the market sentiment on Wednesday. Some important stocks which are making headlines today, include Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO), Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA), and Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA). Let’s see why these stocks are on the move today and what the funds we track think about them.

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 more details here).

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Vornado Realty Trust To Split Off Washington Business

Investors are watching Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) closely today after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is set to split off its Washington-area offices and apartments into a separate company. Last week, Vornado’s CEO Steven Roth said in an industry conference that the company would perform better if split off than combined. But Mr. Roth clarified that no decision about this “deconglomeration” has been made. The New York-based real estate company split off its strip-mall business into a separate retail company, Urban Edge Properties, in 2015. The source said that Vornado’s plan of simplification was started in order to heal its lagging stock price, which is still behind its major competitors. This would be a primary reason behind Vornado’s split off of its Washington business. Out of nearly 766 funds tracked by us, 22 hedge funds were long Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) as of the end of the first quarter of 2016. Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management owns 772,214 shares of the company.

Panera Bread Kicks Out Junk Food

Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA) has announced plans to remove all artificial flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and colors from its grocery store product line Panera at Home. In a statement, Panera Bread’s CEO Ron Shaich said that the company adheres to its plans of delivering cleaner and fresher food to its customers. Panera at Home business is worth $150 million. As of the end of March, 26 hedge funds we track amassed approximately $451.5 million worth Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA)’s stock. James Crichton’s Hitchwood Capital Management has 525,000 shares of the company.

Move on to the next page to see why Cisco Systems, Vanda Pharmaceuticals and Arena Pharmaceuticals are on the radars today. 

Cisco Systems Downgraded to Neutral by Goldman Sachs

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock has lost around 1.50% so far today after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to “Neutral” from “Buy”, while price target was lowered to $32.00 from $35.00. The firm cited lack of near term catalysts and slowing earnings growth as the reasons behind the downgrade. Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management is one of 65 hedge funds from our system that reported stakes in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) as of the end of the first quarter. It owns around 29.33 million shares of the company.

FDA Grants Three Year Market Exclusivity for Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ Drug

Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA)  opened lower but has inched down since the opening bell after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted three years of marketing exclusivity for the changes related to the company’s supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Fanapt, which was approved by the FDA last month. At the end of the first quarter, 22 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA). James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management owns more than 5.99 million shares of the company.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Gets New CFO

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) is in the spotlight today after it announced the appointment of Kevin R. Lind as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company. In a statement, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA)’s CEO Amit D. Munshi said that Kevin’s “significant” financial expertise and experience in healthcare environment will help the company to implement its  flexible cost structure and operating model. Only eight  funds from our database had positions in Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) at the end of March. Among them, Peter Kolchinsky’s RA Capital Management owns 9.36 million shares of the company.

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