Perot Surges; Moody's, Delta Petro, Lennar Fall

Mayank Mehta
21 Sep, 2009
New York City

Dell Inc declined after it agreed to acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 billion. Perot Systems surged 66%. Lennar dropped after it reported wider than expected loss and dragged other home builders lower. Moody

[R]12:10 PM New York – Dell Inc declined after it agreed to acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 billion. Perot Systems surged 66%. Lennar dropped after it reported wider than expected loss and dragged other home builders lower. Moody’s declined after it did not agree to attend regulator hearing scheduled next week.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 75 increased, 422 declined and 3 were unchanged.

Moody’s Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 4.8% followed by losses in Lennar Corporation of 4.1%, in Dell Inc of 4.0%, in Sprint Nextel Corporation of 3.9% and in The New York Times Company of 3.9%.

Molex Incorporated led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 7.1% followed by gains in Zimmer Holdings, Inc 4.7%, in American International Group, Inc of 4.4% and in NetApp, Inc of 4.2%.

Other Movers

Allied Irish Banks, plc ((AIB)) the lender fell 6.4% or 63 cents to $9.21 after the rating agency Moody’s said that the recent government proposal to pay for bad loans will not improve the bank’s credit outlook.

Lennar Corporation ((LEN)) decreased 2.3% or 39 cents to $16.15 after the homebuilder reported third quarter revenues fell 35% to $720.7 million from $1.11 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $171.6 million or 97 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $89 million or 56 cents per share a year ago.

Dell Inc ((DELL)) declined 4.6% or 78 cents to $15.92 after the maker of personal computers and Perot Systems entered into definitive merger agreement in a transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. Terms of the agreement were approved yesterday by the boards of directors of both companies.

Delta Petroleum Corporation ((DPTR)) plunged 36.1% or $1.45 to $2.56 after the independent oil and natural gas exploration reported negative initial results from the Gray 31-23 well in the Columbia River Basin.

Fair Isaac Corporation ((FICO)) the maker of software fell 0.8% or 18 cents to $22.02.

General Electric Company ((GE)) fell 0.7% or 12 cents to $16.38.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc ((HAIN)) the maker of organic food and beverage rose 5.5% or 99 cents to $18.70 after the CNBC TV show host Jim Cramer recommended the stock.

Incyte Corporation ((INCY)) added 4.5% or 33 cents to $7.62 after the developer of medicines for immune system diseases announced “statistically significant” clinical trial results for a topical formulation of its inhibitor, INCB18424, in psoriasis. These results were obtained from a multi-center three-month Phase IIb trial comparing three once-daily doses of topical INCB18424 in 200 patients with mild-to-moderate psoriasis.

Mannkind Corporation ((MNKD)) surged 11% $11.43 after reiterated its positive outlook on the company.

Moody’s Corporation ((MCO)) the credit rating agency at the center of current world financial crisis declined 4.2% or 98 cents to $22.61 after the rating agency refused to attend the U.S. regulator for an industry hearing according to the information posted on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Web site. Standard & Poor’s, Dominion Bond Rating Service and Fitch have agreed to appear for the hearing next week.

Nektar Therapeutics ((NKTR)) surged 10.4% or 87 cents to $9.33 after the biotechnology company and AstraZeneca entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement for two drug development programs, a late stage investigational product for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation and an early stage drug development program to deliver products for the treatment of pain without constipation side effects.

Under the agreement, Nektar will receive an upfront payment of $125 million for both development drugs.

Odyssey Re Holdings Corp ((ORH)) advanced 3.2% or $2.03 to $64.61 a underwriter of reinsurance confirmed that it received on September 4, 2009 an unsolicited proposal from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Odyssey Re that it does not currently own for $60 a share in cash. Fairfax increased its offer to $65.

Perot Systems Corporation ((PER)) surged 65.3% or $11.71 to $29.63 after the technology consulting company agreed to be acquired by Dell Inc.