Today's stocks to watch in the news include JNJ, TGT, and AXP
U.S. stocks are higher, as Black Friday's shortened session kicks off. Among specific equities in focus today are Dow stock Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), retailer Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), and credit card stock American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). Here's a quick look at what's driving JNJ, TGT, and AXP.
- JNJ is up 0.8% at $114, after reports surfaced that the company has approached Swiss biotech Actelion Ltd. about a possible buyout offer. Neither Johnson & Johnson nor Actelion Ltd. confirmed rumors that a takeover of the $17 billion biotech was in the works. JNJ has struggled since hitting an all-time high of $126.07 in late July, but seems to have found support in the $113 region -- about a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of its rally from January to July. Analysts are split on the stock, with nine of 19 rating the shares a tepid "hold" or worse. A round of upgrades could help JNJ resume its long-term quest for all-time peaks.
- TGT is trading 0.6% higher at $78.99, as the retailer reported a solid start to its Black Friday sales. Target Corporation reported its best-ever online sales, with double-digit growth, and with more than 3,200 TVs sold every minute for the first hour of the sale. TGT is now up over 10.5% since reporting earnings earlier this month, and is living up to its reputation as being one of the best-performing stocks during Thanksgiving week. Short sellers may be sweating, with TGT's short interest increasing by 1% over the last two reporting periods, and with shorted shares now accounting for over 6.9% of TGT's float. These 39.6 million shorted shares would take almost two and a half weeks of trading to cover, at TGT's average daily volume.
- AXP is down 0.4% at $72.63 -- after notching a fresh annual high of $73.18 out of the gate -- amid reports that the credit card company will be raising its late payment fees (subscription required), making it the first company to utilize the recent federal change on credit card fee limits. American Express Company's shares are up 4.2% so far in 2016, and have added more than 9% in November alone. Today's dip may have been in the cards for AXP, however, with the stock sporting a 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 74, as of Wednesday evening -- in "overbought" territory.
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