Why Twitter, Wells Fargo, and Three Other Stocks Are in Spotlight on Friday

The markets are quiet today as all three index futures are just moderately lower. Uncertain of direction, many traders are on the sidelines and awaiting news from the informal OPEC/Russia meeting next week before jumping in the bull or bear camp.

Among the stocks that are in the spotlight today are Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM). Let’s find out why these stocks are on investors’ radars and take a look at the smart money sentiment towards them.

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Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s stock has surged by over 20% after CNBC tweeted the following: “CNBC reports that Twitter has received expressions of interest, is moving closer to sale.” Although CNBC said that no deal was imminent, David Faber thinks a sale could be announced by the end of 2016. In other news, Mark Mahaney of RBC Capital has just lowered his price target to $14 from $17 per share and downgraded shares of the social media company to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Sector Perform’. Mahaney said their “belief that Twitter’s value proposition to advertisers could be waning, based on [their] recent advertiser survey data”. However, the analyst reaffirmed his views that “Twitter is a unique asset with a strong value proposition to core users”. Gilchrist Berg‘s Water Street Capital raised its position in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) by 61% to over 1.12 million shares in the second quarter.

After the recent uproar over the bank’s past questionable sales tactics, Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) CEO John Stumpf has resigned from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s advisory council. Some investors believe Stumpf likely resigned due to political pressure, as several Senators recently called for Stumpf’s term in the council to not be renewed. It remains to be seen whether there will enough pressure to force Stumpf to resign as the head of Wells Fargo. Although some politicians have been calling for the move and Warren Buffett has refused to comment on the bank until November, Stumpf has unlocked a lot of value for shareholders in his term. Of the around 749 funds we track, 88 were long Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) at the end of June, down by two funds from the previous quarter.

On the next page, we find out why Apple, Finish Line, and Yum! Brands are in the spotlight.