Why These Five Stocks Are on the Move Today?

On Tuesday, the US stock market has dipped with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 trading over 1% in the red amid weaker-than-anticipated manufacturing data from China and a stronger yen. Five stocks that are making the headlines today are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), IMS Health Holdings Inc (NYSE:IMS) and Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q), Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM), and Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX). Apple is trending as it is trying to end its first eight-day losing streak since 1998, IMS and Quintiles have gained attention after they announced their merger, while the other two stocks are in the spotlight following the release of their earnings reports. Let’s take each stock individually and take a closer look at the news surrounding them.

In addition, we are going to see how the smart money investors from our database have been trading these stocks. We follow nearly 800 hedge funds and other institutional investors as part of our small-cap strategy that allows us to see on which small-caps these funds are collectively bullish. This approach can help a retail investor outperform the broader market by as much as 95 basis points per month over the long run (see more details).

Let’s start with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), whose stock has gained over 1% so far today, after several days of losses that followed the release of its financial results for the last quarter. In addition, last week, activist billionaire Carl Icahn, who had been one of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s largest supporters, said he unloaded its position due to concerns over the company’s performance in China. Yesterday, CEO Tim Cook appeared on CNBC, where he expressed confidence regarding China and said that the sales in the region have been strong. Apple was among the most popular stocks from our database at the beginning of 2016, with 133 funds having disclosed long positions in the previous round of 13F filings. In its last 13F, billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported ownership of 11.32 million shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Stocks of IMS Health Holdings Inc (NYSE:IMS) and Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q) are both around 7% in the red after the former announced it would acquire the latter in an all-stock transaction worth $9 billion. Under the terms of the deal, IMS Health Holdings Inc (NYSE:IMS) shareholders will receive 0.384 share of Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q) for each share they own and will amass 51.4% of the combined business. At the end of the last year, 28 funds from our database held shares of IMS Health Holdings and 35 investors owned long positions in Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE:Q), down by four and one over the quarter, respectively.

Let’s head to the next page, where we are going to discuss the latest financial results of Rayonier and Cognex Corporation.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM)‘s stock has surged by nearly 28% on the back of the company reporting EPS of $0.36 more than doubled compared to estimates of $0.15, while its revenue of $218 million inched down by 2%, but was higher than the expected $208 million. The producer of cellulose specialties said in a statement that it had renegotiated contracts with its three largest customers through the next three years as it expects cellulose prices to fall between 6% and 7% this year and sales volumes to slide 4% to 5%. Nevertheless, Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM) has raised its full-year guidance for pro forma EBITDA by $10 million and expects it in the range of $185 million to $200 million, while adjusted free cash flow guidance is between $85 and $95 million. Among the funds we track, 18 investors amassed over 7% of Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc (NYSE:RYAM)’s stock heading into 2016.

Finally, shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have appreciated by 15% after the company posted EPS of $0.17, beating the estimates of $0.11, while the revenue of $96.20 million was better than the $93.06 million figure expected by analysts. However, in annual terms, Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s revenue declined by 5%, while EPS fell by 23%. For the current quarter, Cognex said it expects revenue in the range of $135 million to $140 million and gross margin in the mid-to-high 70% range, compared to 78% in the last two quarters. A total of 13 funds among those we track reported holding shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) as of the end of 2015, including Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, which owned 2.72 million shares.

Disclosure: none