The markets are sliding on Wednesday after a report from Automatic Data Processing, which shows a decline in the growth of private sector employment. In April, 156,000 jobs were added, far less than the expectations of 193,000 jobs, sending Dow futures down by more than 100 points, while Nasdaq futures have fallen by 32 points. Some major stocks are trending this morning amid this backdrop, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). Let’s see the factors responsible for the movement in these stocks today and also analyze recent hedge fund sentiment towards each of them.
At Insider Monkey, we track around 785 hedge funds and other institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year (see more details about our small-cap strategy).
Apple Loses Trademark Appeal in China
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost a legal battle in China regarding its trademark ‘iPhone’ after a Chinese court gave a verdict in favor of Xintong Tiandi Technology, the company which has been using the label ‘IPHONE’ to sell leather bags and accessories in China since 2010. Apple filed a suit against Xintong with Chinese trademark authorities in 2012, but lost in 2013. The tech giant then filed an appeal against the decision in a lower court in Beijing. Rejecting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s appeal, the Beijing municipality court said that the California company could not prove that the brand name IPHONE was familiar to the Chinese public prior to its registration in China, according to the People’s Daily newspaper. Xintong Tiandi registered the brand name IPHONE in 2007, five years after Apple registered the same name in the country. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have dipped by 1.01% today.
A total of 133 funds in our database held positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported holding 11.31 million shares of Apple as of March 31.
Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler to Develop Autonomous Minivans
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) announced on Tuesday that they will collaborate to make 100 new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid self-driving minivans. The project will double the existing fleet of 70 self-driving cars operated by Google, part of the company’s seven-year-old ambitious program. Engineers from Alphabet and Fiat will work together to redesign the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) minivans to integrate Google’s self-driving technology, sensors, and software into them. This is the first time that Google is working with a carmaker to develop its autonomous cars. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies. Currently, Google is in the testing phase of its existing fleet of self-driving cars. These cars have test-driven more than 1.5 million miles in California, Washington, Texas, and Arizona, with great success in terms of accident avoidance. Shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have gained 0.47% this morning, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU) shares are 0.13% in the red.
As of March 31, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management held 973,292 class A shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). As for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), 28 funds in our database had stakes in the company at the end of last year.
On the next page we will discuss why Pfizer and Medivation are turning heads this morning.
Pfizer Interested in Buying Medivation
Shares of Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) have gained 1.55% today after a report from Reuters claimed that the company has been approached by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) concerning a possible acquisition. On Friday, Medivation rejected Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY)’s bid of $9.3 billion for the company. A source told Reuters that Medivation is consulting its legal and financial advisers in light of Pfizer’s interest in the company. Sanofi meanwhile is said to have no plans to make a new bid and is waiting for Medivation to launch an auction. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s interest in Medivation comes weeks after the company called off its $160 billion acquisition of Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN) due to new U.S. Treasury tax rules which eliminated the benefits of the company’s planned inversion deal. Shares of Pfizer are 0.56% in the red today.
Pfizer ranked among the most popular stocks in our database, with 109 funds in our system holding around $8.6 billion worth of the company’s shares at the end of last year. Meanwhile, a total of 34 investors tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) at the end of the last year, with the total value of their investments valued at approximately $138.8 million.
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