24/7 Wall St. » COV

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (PM, SNDK, BIDU, AMZN, ALU, ELY, CLWR, DECK, WY, TRP, GT, PG, NWL, MRK, HELE, F, COV, CVX, MDRX, EXPE, WDC)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:05:47 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning following a lower-than-expected GDP growth estimate of 2.2%. That was weaker, but not awful (our coverage here). The consumer sentiment survey rose a couple of ticks in April, but Americans still believe the future will better than the present (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.25% at 78.725. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.07% at 682.08, with commodities mostly higher on the slightly weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $104.93/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.23% at $119.64/barrel. Gold settled up 0.3% today, at $1,664.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 24 points to 13,228.24 (0.18%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 19 points (0.61%) to 3,069.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.24% or more than 3 points to 1,403.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $94 at Argus; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) maintained as ‘neutral’ but target price cut at Credit Suisse; Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML, Nomura, and Goldman Sachs; and Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) maintained as ‘underperform’ and estimates cut at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is up 15.6% at $226.64; Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) is down -14.9% at $5.94 (our coverage here); Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down -2.7% at $1.43; Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) is down -25.5% at $51.78 after posting a new 52-week low of $51.03 (our coverage here); Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY) is down -0.3% at $20.81 (more coverage here); TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) is up 0.5% at $44.01; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) is down -5.1% at $11.32; Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is down -4% at $64.18 (our coverage here); Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) is up 3.6% at $18.61; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.2% at $38.38; Helen of Troy Ltd. (NASDAQ: HELE) is up 4.4% at $35.33; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is down -2.1% at $11.62 (our coverage here); and Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up 0.5% at $55.32.

Be sure to look at our list of next week’s big earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is up 0.2% at $106.44. The supermajor oil company reported earnings in line, but production was down. More coverage here.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) is down -36% at $10.25 after posting a new 52-week low of $9.00. The healthcare services provider fired its chairman, and the list of woes goes on. More coverage here.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is up 24.4% at $40.59. The Internet travel company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. More coverage here.

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is down -14.2% at $37.83. The disk drive maker had solid earnings, but worries abound about next quarter. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Personal income and spending
9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions
3:00 p.m. – Farm Prices

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALU, AMZN, BIDU, CLWR, COV, CVX, DECK, ELY, EXPE, F, GT, HELE, MDRX, MRK, NWL, PG, PM, SNDK, TRP, WDC, WY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (A, CRM, AAP, LOW, ALIM, WMT, BZH, COV, DKS, TJX, SKS, MGI, PEIX, NLST, FFN, MTOR)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:04:55 +0000

Stocks opened lower this morning and stayed lower for nearly the entire first half of the day, with buyers most likely waiting to see what would happen with Italian bond rates. The bonds ended the day at a yield slightly above 7%, which was probably not as bad as expected. A solid, if modest, gain took hold in the early afternoon as the October retail sales report turned in a better-than-expected rise. Producer prices were lower, though core inflation was flat, and the Empire State manufacturing index was higher. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5%, at $99.50/barrel, and the euro has given up an early gain against the dollar.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 17 points to 12,096.39 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 29 points (1.09%) to 2,686.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or more than 6 points to 1,257.80.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML. Other action included Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) reiterated at ‘neutral’ by Argus; Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) target raised from $25 to $28 at Argus; Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) cut to ‘neutral’ with a $2 target at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is down about -2.25%, at $57.57; Beazer USA Homes Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down about -0.5%, at $2.21; Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up nearly 2.5%, at $48.44; Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up nearly 5.5%, at $41.73; TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) is up about 1% at $61.16; and Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) is up 2.5%, at $10.46. For a more detailed look at today’s retail earnings, see our earlier story.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Moneygram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is up about 616%, at $18.68. The company announced a 1-for-8 reverse stock split this morning, shrinking the number of outstanding shares from 1.3 billion to 162.5 million. The stock closed yesterday at $2.61, and posted a new 52-week high this morning of $19.61.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up nearly 30%, at $1.31. There is no direct news from the company, but the price jump is very likely related to an announcement yesterday from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) that it was building a new plant in Canada that would double its annual production of ethanol.

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is up more than 24%, at $2.92. The company has signed deals with both IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) under which Netlist’s cloud memory product undergo qualification testing for use with the two companies’ servers.

FriendFinder Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is down more than -20%, at $1.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.42. The company has been notified of a class-action lawsuit charging that it made false statements related the number of shares of stock subject to the 180-day lock-up period following the company’s IPO last May.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down more than -17%, at $6.58. The company reported solid earnings today, but cut next year’s revenue guidance by about 10%.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren are giving speeches tomorrow. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve industrial production index
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: A, AAP, ALIM, BZH, COV, CRM, DKS, FFN, LOW, MGI, MTOR, NLST, PEIX, SKS, TJX, WMT

Whale Watching: Paulson & Co. Speared By Banks & Gold (BAC, COF, C, JPM, WFC, XL, NYX, GLD, TEVA, FDO, MGM, HPQ, AMCX, CEPH, COV, CVS, MYL)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:37:49 +0000

Paulson & Co. Inc. is another hedge fund group that investors use for Whale Watching, although this last quarter was not exactly kind to Mr. Paulson’s billions… The current 13F report shows total September 30, 2011 of $20.68 billion. While still huge, that is down from $29.057 billion just a quarter before. The biggest changes appear to be in the financial stocks and banks, as well as in gold. We have outlined come of the key changes of those and others below, including some new positions taken.

BANK STAKE GAINS: Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was listed as a larger position at 64.3+ million shares, higher by almost 4 million shares. Keep in mind that there are also positions in warrants due 2018 and 2019 in the position at BofA. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) was raised slightly to 22,200,000 shares worth $879.7 million, but the old stake of 21,100,000 shares worth $1.09 billion.

BANK STAKES LOWERED OR ELIMINATED (partial): Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was a much lower stake at 25.1 million shares worth $643 million versus a stake of 33.5 million shares worth some $1.395 billion a quarter earlier. J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was not even listed as a position, yet it was about 4.7 million shares at the June 30 report ( but there is still a warrant position). Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is a lower position of 23,847,900 shares worth $575 million versus the prior position of 33,600,000 shares worth $942 million. XL Group plc (NYSE: XL) was lowered as well to 23.675 million shares worth $445 million versus his previous larger position of 28.23 million shares worth $620 million. NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE: NYX) was dropped from the positions entirely after being listed as 3 million shares a quarter before.

PAULSON’s OTHER LOWERED POSITIONS (partial): SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) was cut by more than one-third down to 20,273,540 shares (now worth $3.2 billion) versus 31,500,000 shares worth nearly $4.6 billion previously. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) was cut by more than half to 1,976,900 shares worth $73.5 million from 4.18 million shares worth $201 million. The stakes in FAMILY DOLLAR STORES INC. (NYSE: FDO) and the stake in MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (NYSE: MGM) were also lowered by Paulson. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was lowered to 15.2 million shares worth $340 million from 23.5 million shares worth $855 million a quarter earlier.

PAULSON’s NEW POSTIONS: AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) is a new position of 5,000,000 shares worth $159 million, making Paulson a zombie fan for The Walking Dead. Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH) is a new position of 3,684,000 shares worth some $297 million. Covidien PLC (NYSE: COV) is a new position of 2,000,000 shares with some $88.2 million. CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) was another new position of 2,500,000 shares worth almost $84 million.

Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) was a higher stake of 24,896,500 shares worth $423 million versus 14,940,000 shares worth $368 million previously.

Fortunately for Mr. Paulson, the markets have recovered handily since the end of September and the start of October.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Mutual Funds Tagged: AMCX, BAC, C, CEPH, COF, COV, CVS, FDO, GLD, HPQ, JPM, MGM, MYL, NYX, TEVA, WFC, XL

The Great Overlooked Dividend Hikes During the Panic (COV, CXS, DISCA, FITB, F, HST, LVS, LMT, MCD, MSFT, NEM, O)

Administrator — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:20:45 +0000

This was no good week for stocks even if the markets have bounced off the lows numerous times on Friday. The low of the DJIA on Friday morning of 10,638 was down about 7.5% from the prior Friday’s close of $11,509.09. Ugly no matter how you cut it. What is so interesting is that companies are still making strides in increasing their payouts in dividends to shareholders as a clear message that their businesses are not at all imploding. Maybe things in China are slowing and maybe the Europeans have us fearing another 2008 to 2009 panic, but these companies are raising dividends in an effort to tell you that they believe that they have clarity in their earnings ahead.

The following companies either announced dividend hikes or hinted at dividend hikes soon: Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); CreXus Investment Corp. (NYSE: CXS); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F); Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HST); Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS); Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT); McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD); Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT); Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM); and Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O). These are not even all of the hikes as there were many dividend announcements from smaller companies during the week.

Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is showing that healthcare products aren’t so worrisome after all. The company announced on the evening of September 22 that it increased its quarterly dividend by 12.5% from $0.20 to $0.225 per ordinary share. The new $0.90 anualized payout now generates a dividend yield of roughly 1.97%.

CreXus Investment Corp. (NYSE: CXS) declared on September 20 a bump to its third quarter dividend of $0.30 per share, a 25% gain from the prior $0.25 payout. As with all entities of this sort, it is hard to know whether or not this payout can be continued as income from quarter to quarter can fluctuate substantially. To prove the point, this annualized dividend would be approximately 13% and around $9.15 its 52-week range is $8.26 to $13.51. The company did note, ” We believe our shareholders will continue to see the benefits of the breadth and diversity of our platform in the quarters and years ahead.”

Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) is not a dividend payer, but early this week came word from the Goldman Sachs Media conference that its CEO is pushing for a stock buyback and has said that a dividend initiation is possible. For a media company with no dividend, that could be a coup. The stock is close to $40 per share and its estimates for earnings from Thomson Reuters are $2.36 EPS for 2011 and $2.81 EPS for 2012.

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues Tagged: COV, CXS, DISCA, F, FITB, HST, LMT, LVS, MCD, MSFT, NEM, O

August’s New Massive Stock Buybacks… Over $30 Billion (LOW, CVS, CELG, COV, INTU, DISCA, HRS, LMT, RSG, LOW, ABC, MXIM, ANR, AVT, JAH, LUV, STJ, ECL, IPG, FRX, ACE, CLF, CTSH, KBR, NWL, VRX, AKAM, AOL, DLB, URBN, ACM, CHTR, MYGN, PFG, HSIC)

Administrator — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:00:52 +0000

The pace of stock buyback announcements in the month of August was almost unbelievable. The pace was stronger at the start of the month when earnings were still coming in droves, but the number of newly announced buyback plans and the extended or expanded buyback plans remained high throughout the entire month. Many companies announce share buybacks and never spend much on the actual plan. Today, these companies are by and large actually living up to their promises. These are The August Buyback Kings….

We would normally group these alphabetically, but not today. We grouped these in order of size and then we used an alphabetic order when it came to the same size of a buyback announcement. The first group is the billions of dollars.

We then grouped the stocks by size again from the under $1 billion down to $500 million, and then we grouped the buybacks of under $500 million down to $200 million. Usually we would cut the list off at buybacks of the $100 million and higher but the list was already too big so we cut the Buyback Kings off at $200 million for August. Lastly, we have a chart at the very end tallying it all up…. Some $28.7 billion for just the $200 million and higher in new or expanded buyback announcements. There were literally dozens of other buybacks that were closer to the $100 million mark and many more that were less than that.

The $1 billion and higher alone which were announced in August were as follows: Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW); CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS); Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT).

Filed under: Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks Tagged: ABC, ACE, ACM, AKAM, ANR, AOL, AVT, CELG, CHTR, CLF, COV, CSCO, CTSH, CVS, CVX, DISCA, DLB, ECL, FRX, HRS, INTU, IPG, JAH, KBR, LMT, LOW, LUV, MXIM, MYGN, NWL, NWSA, PFG, RSG, STJ, URBN, VRX, XOM

The 25 Companies Spending Billions On Buybacks (ACE, AKAM, ABC, AOL, AVT, CBOE, CHTR, CSCO, COV, DISCA, DLB, XOM, CVX, HRS, HUN, JASO, JAH, NWSA, RDC, LUV, STJ, BSX, MSI, V, HPQ)

Administrator — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:56:25 +0000

It is no secret that the market volatility has many investors rattled. What is very counter-intuitive is that many companies are continuing with most or all of their investor friendly plans regardless of the market. That means keeping balance sheets strong, but it also means buying back stock and paying out dividends. In fact, some companies have signaled that they just do not believe the current mayhem will turn into a new 2008 or 2009 situation.

The fresh buybacks we have featured are only the big buybacks which are large in size or large in percentages of the market capitalization of the underlying companies. The best buyback announcements in August have come from the following: Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE); Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM); AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE: ABC); AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL); Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT); CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE); Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Covidien plc (NYSE: COV); Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA); Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB); Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM); Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX); Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN); JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO); Jarden Corporation (NYSE: JAH); News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA); Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RDC); Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV); and St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ).

We also saw some large and interesting buybacks in the last week of July from the likes of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX); Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI); Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V); and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ).

The companies are using their balance sheets to take advantage of distressed situations. Ultimately, this could even signal M&A opportunities arising. As a reminder, companies are not under any obligation to spend a single dollar to repurchase stocks. These buybacks actually look real, and many have a solid history of buying back shares. Who needs activist investors when you see these billions and billions being made available to purchase stock.

Here are the companies buying billions in their own stock.

Filed under: Accounting, Activist Investor, Business Services, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Economy, Editor's Picks, Insider Activity, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity, Shareholder Issues, Value Investing Tagged: ABC, ACE, AKAM, AOL, AVT, BSX, CBOE, CHTR, COV, CSCO, CVX, DISCA, DLB, HPQ, HRS, HUN, JAH, JASO, LUV, MSI, NWSA, RDC, STJ, V, XOM

S&P Embraces Tyco Back Into S&P 500 (TYC, TEL, COV)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:31:59 +0000

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) went through its big breakup in June of 2007. This was a turnaround which never really turned around. The great recession got in the way as well, but there has always been at least some animosity that goes back to the days of Dennis Kozlowski and the spending and accounting fiascoes. That may be about to change now that hundreds of mutual fund managers and thousands of indexers will have to go back into it whether they wanted to or not. Standard & Poor’s last night announced that Tyco is heading back into the S&P 500 Index.

Tyco has traded independently of both Tyco Electronics, Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) and Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) since June 2007. The market cap for the company was $18.3 billion as of last night, which will require fund managers to buy millions of shares.

Tyco Electronics, Ltd. (NYSE: TEL), with an $11.8 billion market cap, is into engineered electronic components, network solutions, specialty products, and undersea telecommunication systems. At $26.57, its 52-week trading range is $20.90 to $32.98. It started trading in the high-$30′s in early 2007.

Covidien plc (NYSE: COV), with a $19.3 billion market cap, is into healthcare products and medical devices for use in clinical and home settings. At $38.59, its 52-week range is $35.59 to $52.48. It started trading in the mid-$40′s in early 2007.

Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) started out of the chute after the spin-offs around $53.00, and that figure is now just under $50.00 if you account for dividend payments made since. Average volume is over 5.9 million shares per day and the only thing that may prevent the volume from going the roof today is that it is a late-August Friday and many professional investors and traders have decided to skip out for a long weekend (or longer). Shares are up 5% at $38.60 right before the open on only about 150,000 shares.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Conglomerates, Index, Turnarounds Tagged: COV, TEL, TYC

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ACPW, ATHN, AH, CNP, COV, CTRP, POT, RLOC, RYL, TWX, USB, VOD)

Administrator — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:20:52 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research early this Tuesday:

Active Power Inc. (NASDAQ: ACPW) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Accretive Health, Inc. (NYSE: AH) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Started as Neutral at Baird; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Ctrip.com International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) Cut to Hold at RBS.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) target cut at Scotia Capital.
ReachLocal, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLOC) Started as Buy at Citigroup; Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Vodafone plc (NYSE: VOD) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Goldman Sachs also said this morning: BUY WARREN BUFFETT!!!

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACPW, AH, ATHN, CNP, COV, CTRP, POT, RLOC, RYL, TWX, USB, VOD

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AIB, IRE, BSX, KMX, CL, COV, DWA, EXPD, SBUX, TU, UA, VALE)

247wallst — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:29:32 +0000

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Thursday morning:

Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) Cut to Sell at RBS.
Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) Cut to Sell at RBS.
Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Dreamworks Animation (NYSE: DWA) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Telus Corp. (NYSE: TU) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Neutral at UBS.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Started as Neutral at UBS.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AIB, BSX, CL, COV, DWA, EXPD, IRE, KMX, SBUX, TU, UA, VALE

George Soros Top Equity Holdings (AAPL, AUXL, BFLY, CBI, CMG, CRUS, COV, MAPP, POT, SVNT)

247wallst — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:17:55 +0000

This week we got to see critical SEC filings showing holdings of many key and influential investors. Included in these filings were billionaire George Soros, a billionaire whom is loved by some and much less ‘well thought of’ by others over his currency trading history of over his MoveOn.org attempts. Either way, investors still watch Soros. These are the holdings of Soros Fund Management LLC as of December 31, 2007. These were listed as the top holdings and are not at all his entire positions. Soros Fund Management LLC was listed as having some $2.269 Billion in the total filing, and these positions here only equate to $360+ million, so there are many more positions. As with all of these holdings, these positions may have changed or been eliminated as of the dates noted. Here is a summary of his larger positions with a dollar amount provided by Soros as filer and a share count:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) $32,000,000; 161,550 shares
Auxilium Pharma (NASDAQ: AUXL) $36,473,000; 1,216,180 shares
Bluefly Inc. (NASDAQ: BFLY) $36,451,000; 48,601,156 shares… an old favorite of his…
Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (NYSE: CBI) $29,743,000; 492,100 shares
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) $32,404,000; 220,332 shares
Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) $24,376,000; 4,616,666 shares
Covidien, Ltd. (NYSE: COV) $32,194,000; 726,900 shares
MAP Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) $71,374,000; 4,076,169
Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) $37,933,000; 263,500 shares
Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVNT) $25,002,000; 1,088,461 shares

As Soros himself says …."Contrary to the tenets of market fundamentalism, financial markets do not tend towards equilibrium; they are crisis prone."

Other billionaires and their holdings filed this week:
Bill Gates
Carl Icahn
Warren Buffett

Jon C. Ogg
February 16, 2008