These 5 Prominent Stocks Are Making Notable Moves Today

Mixed earnings reports and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s press conference have cast a pall over investor sentiment in the markets today, with the major U.S indexes trading slightly down. Among the most important stocks affected by earnings reports today are Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) and Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT). Let’s see how these companies performed in the first quarter and take a look at how top hedge funds were positioned in each stock.

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Travelers Companies Slides on Earnings

Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV)’s stock has lost 6.16% today after the company announced its first quarter financial results. The company delivered operating income of $698 million, or $2.33 per share, down from last year’s $827 million and missing estimates of $2.55 per share. Total revenue for the first quarter did increase to $6.69 billion, up from $6.63 billion in the first quarter of 2015. The company cited hail storms that hit Texas in March as the cause of the profit decline.

Out of the nearly 800 active hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 24 funds held long positions in Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) at the end of the fourth quarter. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital owned the most notable position in the company among those funds, amounting to 2.90 million shares.

Stanley Black & Decker Beats Estimates

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) reported its first quarter earnings on Thursday, with EPS coming in at $1.28, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.14. The Connecticut-based company’s revenue of $2.67 billion also beat estimates, which had anticipated $2.56 billion in revenue. The company expects full-year earnings of $6.20-to-$6.40 per share. The stock is currently trading up by 4.44%.

22 hedge funds in our system held positions in Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) at the end of last year. Richard S. Pzena‘s Pzena Investment Management owned a position of 2.9 million shares on December 31.

We dig into the earnings reports of American Express, Yum Brands, and Mattel on the next page.

Sliding Profit Not Enough to Stop American Express

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is up by 1.31% this afternoon after the company published its first quarter 2016 earnings after the market close Wednesday. The credit card company reported revenue of $8.09 billion and EPS of $1.45, beating analysts’ expectations on both fronts. However, profit declined by 6.5% year-over-year as the company increased its spending to attract new customers, raising expenses to $5.5 billion, up by 5% year-over-year.

Overall, 53 hedge funds in our system held stakes in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) at the end of the fourth quarter with a total value of approximately $14.0 billion.

Yum Brands Slips Despite Strong Performance in China 

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) shares have dipped by 1.28% after initially surging out of the gates this morning. The company released its earnings report on Wednesday, which showed better-than-expected results. The restaurant holding company reported earnings per share of $0.95 and revenue of $2.62 billion. While revenue slightly missed expectations $2.66 billion, EPS beat estimates by a healthy $0.12. Perhaps more importantly, its operations in China experienced growth of 42% and core operating profit surged by 21% in the first quarter, according to Yum! Brands’ CEO Greg Creed. Worldwide sales increased by 5% year-over-year.

51 hedge funds in our database held positions in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) at the end of last year, with their holdings collectively valued at $3.7 billion.

Mattel Sinks on Weak Barbie Sales

Shares of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) have sunk by 6.69% today after the company revealed disappointing first quarter results yesterday. The toy company was hit by declining sales of its iconic Barbie doll, posting a loss of $0.13 per share, or $73.0 million, much higher than the year-ago quarter’s $58.2 million loss. Total revenue for the quarter came in at $869.40 million, which did beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $859.18 million. The sales of Barbie dolls tumbled by 3.4% during the quarter. The results are a stark contrast to rival Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)‘s results, which trounced estimates on strong Star Wars sales earlier this week.

21 funds in our system held long positions in Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) at the end of 2015. John W. Rogers’ Ariel Investments owned one of the biggest stakes in the company, amounting to approximately 5.86 million shares of the company.

Disclosure: None