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COSM

Cosmos Health's stock is experiencing an uptick following the announcement that CEO Greg Siokas plans to buy up to $3 million of the company's common shares in the open market by the end of 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

December 18, 2023 | 6:58 pm

SPXL

SPXS

SPY

Goldman Sachs' chief equity strategist David Kostin has raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 index in 2024 to 5,100, indicating a 7% rise from current levels and a new all-time high. This contrasts with Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester's caution against the recent market rally. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is showing bullish signs, attempting to break out from a bull flag pattern. Traders can use Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X Shares (SPXL) and Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X Shares (SPXS) to play the market bullishly or bearishly, respectively.

Portfolio Pulse from Melanie Schaffer

December 18, 2023 | 6:54 pm

PLTR

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) has seen a 17.49% decrease in short interest since the last report, with 121.15 million shares sold short, representing 6.37% of available shares. The average time to cover these short positions is 1.85 days. Short interest is a market sentiment indicator, and a decrease suggests investors may be more bullish on PLTR. Compared to its peers, PLTR has a higher short interest percentage of float (6.37% vs. peer average of 3.13%).

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Insights

December 18, 2023 | 6:45 pm

IQV

IQVIA Holdings (NYSE:IQV) has seen a decrease in short interest, with the short percent of float dropping 9.06% since the last report. The company has 3.68 million shares sold short, representing 2.31% of available shares for trading. The average time to cover these short positions is 3.05 days. This decline in short interest may indicate a more bullish sentiment towards IQVIA Holdings compared to its peers, which have an average short interest of 5.74% of float.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Insights

December 18, 2023 | 6:45 pm

BBVA

BBVA's short interest has decreased by 25%, with 1.93 million shares sold short, representing 0.03% of available shares. The short interest decline suggests a more bullish sentiment among investors compared to the peer group average of 0.84% short interest. The coverage time based on trading volume is approximately 1.25 days.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Insights

December 18, 2023 | 6:45 pm

FRD

Friedman Industries repurchased 400,041 shares from Metal One Corporation for $5.1M and authorized a new repurchase program for up to 1,045,774 shares through December 13, 2026. The repurchase equates to 15% of outstanding shares post the Metal One transaction. The program allows for repurchases in various transaction types, subject to market and corporate conditions, and is not an obligation to purchase a set number or value of shares.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

December 18, 2023 | 6:42 pm

BMO

CM

RY

TD

BofA Securities analyst Ebrahim H. Poonawala has revised ratings for several Canadian banks in light of declining interest rates. The 5-year yield has dropped 120 basis points since October, reducing the risk of adverse credit outcomes. Poonawala has upgraded Royal Bank Of Canada (RY) and Bank Of Montreal (BMO) to Buy, citing potential deal synergies with RY's pending acquisition of HSBC Canada. Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM) was raised to Neutral due to improving EPS and macro visibility, while The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) was downgraded to Neutral. BofA expects Canada's GDP growth to accelerate in the second half of 2024/2025 and anticipates the Bank of Canada to cut rates by 125 basis points through FY24.

Portfolio Pulse from Lekha Gupta

December 18, 2023 | 6:39 pm

NKLA

Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola Corporation, has been sentenced to four years in prison following his conviction on fraud charges. The sentencing is a significant development for the company, which has faced scrutiny over its business practices and Milton's representations to investors.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

December 18, 2023 | 6:38 pm

ZOM

Zomedica's stock price is trading higher following the announcement of the commercial launch of three new assays for its TRUFORMA In-Clinic Biosensor Testing Platform.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

December 18, 2023 | 6:37 pm

GWW

Over the past 10 years, W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) has produced an average annual return of 12.61%, outperforming the market. A $100 investment in GWW a decade ago would be worth $330.39 today. The company's market capitalization currently stands at $40.88 billion.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Insights

December 18, 2023 | 6:30 pm