Buzz Stocks: Infoblox Inc, Allergan plc Ordinary Shares, and ChemoCentryx Inc

U.S. stocks are higher today, as traders look to new earnings reports and improving oil prices. Among equities in focus today are network solutions provider Infoblox Inc (NYSE:BLOX), as well as pharmaceutical stocks Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) and ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI).

• BLOX is down 4.6% at $14.84, in the wake of the company's fiscal third-quarter sales warning. As a result, JMP Securities cut its price target to $20 from $23, while Deutsche Bank trimmed its target by $1 to $12 -- territory not charted since mid-2014. BLOX has spent most of 2016 in the $14-$17 range, and has lost nearly half its value since peaking in June. Options traders seem pessimistic about the stock, with Infoblox Inc's 50-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting in the 72nd percentile of annual readings, at 1.47. Analysts aren't so sure, however, as four of nine consider BLOX a "strong buy" -- leaving plenty of room for downgrades to exacerbate selling pressure.

• AGN is up 5.1% at $224.21, following an upbeat earnings report and an announcement that the company would be buying back up to $10 billion in common stock. Allergan plc Ordinary Shares hit an annual low just three sessions ago, and has been struggling to make up lost ground since calling off a planned merger with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in early April. Prior to today, the shares had underperformed the greater S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 31 percentage points over the last 60 sessions, but 13 of 17 analysts rank the stock a "buy" or better, with only a single "sell" rating to be had. Today, AGN is set to topple its 20-day moving average for the first time since March. 
  
  
• CCXI is trading at $3.16, a striking 50.5% jump, after Vifor Pharma, a subsidiary of Galenica AG (VTX:GALN), announced it had purchased marketing rights to ChemoCentryx Inc's CX168 compound. CCXI will receive an upfront payment of $60 million in cash -- roughly two-thirds of its market value at last night's close, per Thomson Reuters. The shares took a tumble with the broader biotech sector in January, and hit an all-time low last week. Today, though, CCXI is on pace to conquer its 10-week trendline for the first time in 2016. The pop may concern short sellers, since it would take 15.8 days of trading, at CCXI's average daily rate, to cover all of the stock's shorted shares. Options players have been particularly cynical about ChemoCentryx Inc, with the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 4.22 sitting in the 88th percentile of its annual range, suggesting near-term traders have been especially put-skewed. 

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