Why These Five Stocks Are on the Move Today?

Markets are trading lower on Friday following the recent sell-off in several tech  stocks amid the earnings season. Some important companies announced their financial results today, including Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) and Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG). This article takes a closer look at the earnings reports of these companies and presents the hedge funds sentiment towards 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).

Exxon Mobil’s Revenue Declines

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s stock opened in the red, but has managed to pare losses after the company announced its first-quarter results, which included a net income of $1.81 billion, or $0.43 a share, sharply down from $4.94 billion, or $1.17 per share, same quarter last year, but above analysts’ estimates of $0.31. In this way following a 63% annual slump, Exxon recorded the lowest quarterly profit since 1999. The company cited the plunging crude prices as the primary reason of the losses. The revenue declined to $48.71 billion from $67.6 billion reported a year earlier. Out of the total hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 68 funds held long positions in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), with a total value of approximately $3 billion at the end of the last year. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is notable of these stakeholders with an ownership of more than 4.53 million shares of the company reported as of the end of March.

Chevron Corporation Posts Huge Losses

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock is 1% in the red after the company reported mixed financial results. The company’s revenue of $23.55 billion, declined from $34.56 billion posted for the same quarter last year, but was higher than the estimates of $21.47 billion. Chevron also reported a loss of $725 million, or $0.39 per share, worse than the expected loss of $0.20 per share. At the end of last year, 44 hedge funds from our database owned shares of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns more than 3.6 million shares of the company, according to its last 13F filing.

Phillips 66 Misses Estimates

Low energy prices battered the first quarter of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) as it reported earnings of $385 million, or $0.72 per share, down from $987 million, or $1.79 per share, posted a year earlier.  Lower margins for gasoline and other refine products hurt the company in the first quarter. In a statement, Greg Garland, CEO of Phillips 66, said that despite the problems, the company completed planned turnarounds and did some important maintenance activities in the quarter. Garland said that the company reinvested $750 million in the business and distributed $687 million to shareholders. Out of the total hedge funds from our database, 35  funds had positions in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015.

Sanofi’s Sales Falling

Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) posted earnings of 1.72 billion euro ($1.96 billion), higher than the estimates of 1.70 billion, while its sales of 8.54 billion euro, declined by 0.7% on the year and missed the expectations of 8.73 billion euro. Sanofi’s diabetes drugs, which accounts for more than 20% of its total revenue, experienced a sales decline of 6% in the first quarter. Sanofi’s stock has declined by around 3% so far today.

On Thursday, Sanofi announced its non-binding proposal to buy Medivation, the San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company, for an all-cash transaction of $9.3 billion, but Medivation rejected the deal. Overall, 31 hedge funds we track owned shares of Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) at the end of 2015. Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management owns 27,697 shares of the company.

Shire PLC Beats Estimates

Shares of Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) have advanced by more than 4% after Dublin-based biotech company reported a net income up by 2% on the year to $419 million and sales of $1.71 billion, versus $1.49 billion reported a year ago. Shire’s EPS of $3.19 managed to beat the estimates of $3.05. The company experienced a record $509 million worth of sales of its drug Vyvanse, which is used to treat eating and hyperactivity disorders. The company is also in the process to complete its $32 billion acquisition of Baxalta anticipated in June. Overall, 40 hedge funds from our database had stakes in Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) at the end of last year worth $2.4 billion.

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