CVE, T, and HALO stocks are making notable moves on the charts today
The tech-heavy Nasdaq is on pace to close at a record high, while the broader market claws higher. Among specific equities on the move today are oil stock Cenovus Energy Inc (USA) (NYSE:CVE), telecom specialist AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), and biotech Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO). Here's a quick look at what's moving shares of CVE, T, and HALO.
Cenovus Energy Taps Annual Low on Asset Purchase
While ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) shareholders cheer news of the company's asset sale, CVE is down 13% at $11.38 -- on track for its biggest one-day percentage loss to date -- after the company agreed to pay $13.3 billion for the western Canadian oil sands. In fact, the stock notched an annual low of $11.36 earlier, and is one of the worst performers on the New York Stock Exchange. Adding to the pain is a price-target cut to C$18 from C$23 at Raymond James. Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc could be in even more trouble should short sellers continue to pile on. Though CVE is short-sale restricted (SSR) today, these bearish bets rose by 23% in the two most recent reporting periods, but still account for a mere 0.8% of the stock's available float.
FirstNet Broadband Deal Boosts AT&T Stock
T stock is 0.5% higher at $41.64, on news the company is teaming up with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to create a broadband network dedicated to emergency responders, such as police, firefighters, and emergency medical services, covering all 50 U.S. states. Shares of AT&T Inc. have tacked on more than 15% from their mid-November lows, but the stock could still stand to benefit from a round of upbeat analyst attention. At present, 13 of the 19 brokerage firms providing coverage rate T no better than a "hold." Options traders have wasted no time weighing in, however, with nearly 54,000 T calls traded -- six times the typical intraday rate.
Halozyme Therapeutics Stock Rewards Shorts on Data Disappointment
Among the leading laggards on the Nasdaq this afternoon is HALO -- down 11.5% at $12.65, and on the SSR list -- after an independent panel said Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.'s experimental cancer treatment will not achieve its goals in an early stage trial. The shares had been tracking higher since mid-January with the help of the 30-day moving average -- a trendline that failed to stop the bleeding today. But that's probably just fine with short sellers. They pessimistic positions are sitting just a hair below the record-high levels seen earlier this month, and still represent more than one-quarter of HALO's total float. At the stock's average daily volume, it would take nearly four weeks of trading to buy back the 25.2 million shorted shares that are sold short.
Get a jump-start on the day's stock market news with Schaeffer's free Opening View newsletter.