Why Facebook, Opower, Genworth, Apollo Education, and Sarepta Are Spiking Today

Even though oil is down on Monday, U.S stocks are up, partly driven by strength in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors. In this article we will take a look at five individual stocks that are on the rise today: Opower Inc (NYSE:OPWR), Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Apollo Education Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). What is behind the spikes in these stocks? And what do the hedge funds in our database think about these companies and their long-term prospects? Let’s find out.

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Opower Surges on Ameliorated Acquisition Offer

Let’s start with Opower Inc (NYSE:OPWR), which is up by more than 30% in Monday trading on the news that Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) has agreed to acquire the small-cap customer engagement and energy efficiency cloud services provider for roughly $532 million, or $10.30 per share in cash. The offer implied a 30% premium to the stock’s closing price on Friday and shares have quickly surged to fill in the gap, with investors seemingly unconcerned that any issues will prevent it from being completed.

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, Opower Inc (NYSE:OPWR) counted 11 hedge fund supporters among those that we track. Their combined stakes accounted for more than 8% of the company’s shares.

Genworth Continues to Rise on Earnings

Another big gainer on Monday afternoon is Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), which has risen by almost 19% today, a strong continuation of a rally that started on Friday, when it gained 20.35%. That spike was triggered by the announcement of the company’s first quarter financial results after the market closed on Thursday, when the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.21 per share for the quarter, $0.07 above the Street’s consensus. And though revenue of $1.785 billion fell well short of expectations of $2.175 billion, investors seemed satisfied with the operating profit and the fact that CEO Tom McInerney is working to free up capital to meet the company’s debt payments.

28 funds among those that we track were long Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) at the end of 2015. Quite recently, Himanshu H. Shah’s Shah Capital Management reported ownership of 4.69 million shares of the company as of March 31, boosting its exposure to the stock by 50% during the first quarter.

We’ll cover the other three big gainers referenced in the opening paragraph on the next page.

Does Sarepta Really Have 322% Upside?

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) are trading up by about 14.4% today after analysts at Oppenheimer upgraded the stock’s rating to ‘Outperform’ and set a $60 price target on the stock, suggesting upside potential of more than 320%. The firm’s analysts believe eteplirsen could receive accelerated FDA approval in the near-term, though other analysts aren’t convinced the treatment will get approved at all, so there are widely differing opinions on the viability of the treatment and the studies conducted with it.

17 funds in our system held long positions in Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) at the end of 2015, with their positions valued at $426.3 million. Among the largest shareholders was Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors, which held 2.24 million shares of the company.

Apollo Education Group Gains on Revised Buyout Offer

Next up is Apollo Education Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL), which is up by approximately 10.25% in Monday trading after the consortium of investors seeking to acquire the company boosted its offer to $1.14 billion from under $1.10 billion. According to a statement issued by the companies involved, this is the best and final offer that Apollo will receive from this consortium.

As of the end of 2015, Apollo Education Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL) counted the support of 24 funds in our database, which held 24% of its float. A noteworthy position was that of Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC, which disclosed ownership of 10.13 million shares as of December 31.

Facebook Riding Earnings Wave

Finally, there’s Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), which has gained over 0.5% since the bell rang this morning, continuing the rally that was set in motion by the company’s strong first quarter results announced last week. Shares are up by more than 8.5% since last Thursday, after the social media behemoth reported earnings of $0.77 per share, $0.15 ahead of the Street’s consensus, on revenue of $5.38 billion, which was up by 52% year-over-year, and also beat estimates, by $120 million.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is one of the most popular stocks among the hedge funds that we track. The company counted 146 such hedge funds as shareholders of the company as of the end of 2015. Among its supporters was Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital, which held 9.78 million Facebook shares worth more than $1 billion on December 31.

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