Why Disney (DIS), Amedica (AMDA), Cvent (CVT), UniPixel (UNXL), and Repros Therapeutics (RPRX) Are Spiking Today

After the OPEC countries participating in the Doha meeting this weekend failed to reach a deal to limit oil production, crude prices fell heavily on Monday. However, stocks are on the rise as one of the busiest weeks of the earnings period kicks off. Among Monday’s gainers are Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), which is driving the consumer sector and the Dow, as well as Amedica Corporation (NASDAQ:AMDA), Cvent Inc (NYSE:CVT), UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) and Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), all of which are trading up in the early afternoon. Let’s take a look into the events that have pushed these stocks higher today and see what the funds in our database think about the companies in question.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 785 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).

Investors Go Bananas About ‘The Jungle Book’

Let’s start with Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), one of the most important gainers today. The stock is up by roughly 2.65% this afternoon after the successful debut of the company’s latest film ‘The Jungle Book’ over the weekend. The movie dominated the weekend box office, bringing in roughly $103.6 million in U.S and Canada box office receipts, outpacing its nearest competitor by more than $83 million. Following such a strong opening, analysts at Pivotal Research decided to upgrade the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’, raising their price target on it to $121 from $104 in the process.

Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is quite popular among the hedge funds that we follow, counting 51 supporters at the end of the fourth quarter. The largest shareholder in our database was Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, which disclosed ownership of 8.64 million shares of the company valued at more than $852 million as of March 31.

Amedica Sets Foot in China

Next up is Amedica Corporation (NASDAQ:AMDA), which is trading up by roughly 38.6% on Monday afternoon on more than 13-times its average daily trading volume. The spike was triggered by the company’s announcement that it has inked a partnership with Shandong Weigao Orthopedic Device Company Limited for the exclusive distribution and sale of its silicon nitride spinal implants in China. The deal stipulates minimum annual purchase requirements of 20,000 units in year-one and the minimum will increase gradually towards 50,000 units by year-six.

Only four funds among those we track were long Amedica Corporation (NASDAQ:AMDA) at the end of 2015. Among them was Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management, which declared holding 3.77 million shares worth $423,000 as of December 31. It should be noted that following a 1:15 reverse stock split in January, Hudson Bay’s stake should amount to roughly 251,131 shares now.

We look at the strong gains witnessed in three other stocks today on the next page.

Cvent Going Private

Shares of Cvent Inc (NYSE:CVT) are trading up by more than 65.5% on Monday afternoon, driven by news that the company has agreed to be taken private. As per the deal, Vista Equity Partners will acquire the small-cap tech company for $36 per share or $1.65 billion in cash, a 69% premium over the stocks’ closing price on Friday.

Cvent Inc (NYSE:CVT) counted 14 hedge fund supporters among those that we track at the end of 2015. However, their stakes only accounted for 3.7% of the company’s outstanding shares. Among those 14 institutional backers was Sanford J. Colen’s Apex Capital, which held 500,100 shares of the company at the end of the fourth quarter.

UniPixel’s Roller Coaster Continues

Also on the rise today is UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL); the stock has gained more than 19% since the market opened this morning, adding to the rally seen since its January lows, with shares now up by approximately 363% since January 26. So, what’s been going on? Well, by early January, the stock had tumbled by 95% from its April 2015 highs, mainly driven by the company’s retraction from a joint venture with Kodak, and its entry into a partnership with Atmel’s XSense, from which it also acquired assets. The recuperation seen recently seems to confirm investors’ renewed bullishness on the company and its products, which now seem much more marketable following the overhaul and general work done in 2015.

UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) has not attracted much hedge fund attention so far, counting only three supporters in our database as of December 31. Hudson Bay Capital Management holds the largest position disclosed as of March 31 so far, comprising 3.38 million shares of the company.

Repros Continues to Rally on Proellex’s Results

Finally, there’s Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), which is up by 14.75% in Monday trading, continuing with the recent rally the stock witnessed; shares are up by more than 187% over the past five trading days. The rush was set in motion by the announcement of successful results from the company’s Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating Proellex’s ability to reduce excessive menstrual bleeding in women with uterine fibroids (UF).

Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX) counted the support of Alex Denner’s Sarissa Capital Management, which held more than 1.00 million shares of the company on December 31, plus that of another nine funds in our database.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.