ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. (DNAI), Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (BLDP) & More: Major Hype Surrounding These Stocks Today

The markets are buoyant today after a report showcased a rise in US Consumer Confidence. The consumer confidence index touched its highest level in the past nine years at 104.1, up from 101.8 in August. Last night’s Presidential debate also provided a much needed boost to the market, with Hillary Clinton being declared the winner by many sources. The indices were also helped by individual stocks making strong upward moves today.

Some of the stocks impacting the markets positively today are ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNAI), Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP), Inventergy Global Inc. (NASDAQ:INVT), Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRY), and EndoChoice Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GI). In this article we’ll take a look at the news driving the prices of these stocks higher and see what hedge funds think of them.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 750 hedge funds, whose 13F filings we analyze as part of our small-cap strategy. Our research has shown that imitating a portfolio that includes the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds can outperform the market by as much as 95 basis points per month on average (see more details here).

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ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNAI) today announced that it has licensed Oncology drug PNT737 from CRT Pioneer Fund, UK. The license gives the company exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the drug. PNT737, a selective checkpoint inhibitor, is currently in Phase 1 Clinical Trails. Under the terms of the deal, ProNAi Therapeutics will pay a $7 million upfront payment, as well as up to another $2 million, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. Shares jumped this morning on the news but have come back to earth since, being up by 0.53% this afternoon. Among the funds that we track, nine were long ProNAi Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNAI) at the end of June, having amassed 18.10% of its outstanding stock.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) yesterday announced a new collaboration between it, Volkswagen Group, and Audi. The company has received purchase orders from Audi to accelerate certain key development activities under its ongoing Technology Solutions program with Volkswagen, with runs through early-2019. The companies’ HyMotion program is focused on the development of next-gen fuel cell stacks. The number of funds in our database long Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BLDP) stood at two on June 30, unchanged over the second quarter. Those funds held just 0.10% of Ballard’s float.

Three more major market movers are discussed on the next page.

Inventergy Global Inc. (NASDAQ:INVT) shares are up by over 11% today after it announced that one of its subsidiary’s new partners, Pabellon Inc., is engaged with a Fortune 100 company with the purpose of creating a proof of concept for demonstrating Inventergy’s Surface Plane Magnetic Technology. The company’s CEO said that the engagement shows the extent of value created by Inventergy Global for its partners through its unique monetization model. Inventergy Global is engaged in the business of Intellectual Property investment and licensing. Two of the hedge funds in our system owned shares of Inventergy Global Inc. (NASDAQ:INVT) at the end of June.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRY)‘s stock hit its 52-week high today a day after the news of positive phase III data was released related to its combination of encorafenib (BRAF inhibitor) and binimetinib (MEK inhibitor) for treating BRAF-mutant advanced, unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The results of the study showed that the combination significantly improved progression-free survival in comparison to Roche’s Zelboraf alone, meeting its primary endpoint. Jefferies’ responded by raising its price target on Array to $8.00 today from $7.00. However, after being up by as much as 7% in pre-market trading, shares of the company are now down by 3% today after gaining 81% yesterday. 17 hedge funds that we track held about $217 million worth of Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRY)’s stock as of the end of the June quarter, amounting to 42.60% of its shares.

EndoChoice Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GI) shares shot up on the news of the company’s buyout by Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). The deal is worth $421 million and will help Boston Scientific expand its endoscopy portfolio. The purchase price of $8 per share was an almost 100% premium to EndoChoice’s closing price of $4.22 yesterday, sending shares up by 89% today. The transaction is expected to be closed in the fourth quarter of this year. Seven of the hedge funds that we track owned $11 million worth of EndoChoice Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GI) shares at the end of June.

Disclosure: None