What’s the Deal With These 5 Stocks on the Move Today?

With earnings season now in full swing, the Dow and S&P 500 are each slightly in the red as investors weigh various bits of macro-economic data and different earnings reports. Among the stocks on the move this Thursday are 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM), Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM), and Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC). Let’s find out why investors are buying and selling these stocks on high volumes and see what the smart money in our database thinks about them.

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An Analyst Turns Bullish on 3D

3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) is almost 20% higher today after Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’ and increased its price target on it to $26 from $11. Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan believes that 3D System’s new boss, Vyomesh Joshi, has the skill and the experience to turn around the company. The analyst thinks that Joshi will increase profitability by aligning cost with growth, and optimize 3D’s portfolio to deliver higher margin organic growth. The analyst raised his 2016 EPS estimate for the company to $0.30 from $0.28, and his 2017 EPS estimate to $0.57 from $0.39. The number of elite funds in our system with holdings in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) rose by three to 15 during the fourth quarter.

Investors Unimpressed With Taiwan Semiconductor Beat

The market isn’t particularly impressed with Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM)‘s first quarter results. Although the company beat bottom-line expectations by $0.01 per share with EPS of $0.38 and met revenue estimates of $6.14 billion, shares of the company are almost 4% in the red this morning. Due to the February 6 earthquake, there was a delay in wafer shipments and sales dropped by 12.8% year-over-year in U.S dollar terms. Taiwan Semiconductor’s management expects gross margin of between 49%-to-51% and operating margin of between 38.5% and 40.5% for the next quarter. 24 funds that we track held 1.5% of Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TSM)’s float at the end of 2015. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management owned slightly over 28 million shares.

On the next page, we examine what’s happening with the shares of Repros Therapeutics, Polycom, and Western Digital.

Momentum Buying Detected At Nano-Cap Biotech

Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX) shares have surged by 37% out of the gate today as momentum traders pile into the nano-cap. Although there is no fundamental news causing the buying today, Repros did announce the results of a Phase 2b study on Tuesday, which showed that vaginal administration of its drug candidate Proellex at doses of 6 and 12 mg achieved significant reduction in excessive menstrual bleeding, the key symptom of uterine fibroids. Ten funds in our system held 12.2% of Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s shares at the end of December. As with all nano-caps, investors should do their due diligence before making a buying decision.

Investors Hit the Buy Button on Polycom

Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) is 2.7% higher this morning on no particular news. According to a Bloomberg report on April 5, Mitel Networks Corp (NASDAQ:MITL) could potentially buy Polycom for $12.50 per share in stock plus cash, valuing Polycom at around $1.7 billion. The merger would be a win for both companies, giving them greater efficiencies from larger scale. Although there is no guarantee of a deal, the price action in the stock shows that some investors believe a deal will likely occur. Hedge fund sentiment in Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) was stable in the fourth quarter, with the number of elite funds owning shares of the company staying the same quarter-over-quarter at 18.

Western Digital Corp Down Because of Seagate

Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) is down by 8.2% in morning trading after fellow hardware maker Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) warned that its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016 will come in lower than previously guided. Seagate now expects sales of $2.6 billion and gross margin of 23% for the fiscal quarter, down from previous estimates of $2.7 billion and gross margin of 25.6%. Seagate sales were weaker-than-expected due to lower mission-critical enterprise sales and soft desktop demand. Investors are selling Western Digital on the fear that its sales and margins could also come in weaker-than-expected. 37 funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned shares of Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) at the end of December, well down from 51 funds long WDC at the end of September.

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