MARKET PULSE- FedEx, Tesla, Five Below, Adobe, Tower Group
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Sept 18 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks on the move on Wednesday:
WALL STREET OPENS FLAT AHEAD OF FED DECISION
Stocks opened little changed on Wednesday, ahead of an announcement by the Federal Reserve about the future of its economic stimulus program. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.05 points, or 0.13 percent, to 15,509.68, the S&P 500 lost 0.27 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,704.49 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.306 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,750.005.
** APPLE INC (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , $461.82, up 1 pct (9:44 a.m. ET)
The fingerprint reader on Apple's top-end iPhone 5S received an early thumbs up for ease of use from two influential reviewers, helping dispel concerns about the scanning technology which has been notoriously unreliable in other cellphones.
** COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP, $82.37, up 2 pct (9:44 a.m. ET)
Brokerage Barclays Capital upgraded the IT services provider's stock to "overweight" from "equal weight" as it sees growth in the company's business in consulting and outsourcing in Europe. It also expects strong growth in its health care business. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) raised its price target on the company's stock to $97 from $80. Brokerage Evercore Partners also raised its price target late on Tuesday.
** FEDEX CORP, $113.47, up 2.5 pct (9:43 a.m. ET)
FedEx posted a bigger quarterly profit as the courier company cut costs and its lower-priced ground shipping business did well.
** ADOBE SYSTEMS INC (NasdaqGS: ADBE - news) , $51.54, up 7 pct (9:43 a.m. ET)
The company, known for its Photoshop and Acrobat software, expects subscriber growth to top the 331,000 it added in the third quarter due to strong demand from corporate customers.
** SANGAMO BIOSCIENCES INC (NasdaqGS: SGMO - news) , $10.97, up 4 pct (9:42 a.m. ET)
The drugmaker said its common stock offering of 6.1 million shares is priced at $10.58 per share, the closing price of its stock on Tuesday, and which will fetch $65 million in gross proceeds.
** CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC (NasdaqGS: CBRL - news) , $104.40, down 2 pct (9:42 a.m. ET)
The restaurant operator forecast current-quarter profit below analysts' estimates due to higher commodity costs and other expenses.
** TOWER GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD, $10.50, down 25 pct (9:41 a.m. ET)
FBR cut its rating on the property and casualty insurer's stock to "market perform" from "outperform," saying that higher reserves in the second quarter could put the company in a weaker capital position.
** CHEMOCENTRYX INC (NasdaqGS: CCXI - news) , $6.21, down 3 pct (9:40 a.m. ET)
Chemocentryx said that GlaxoSmithKline Plc (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) returned the rights to its most advanced drug in development for inflammatory bowel disease.
** DOLLAR TREE INC (NasdaqGS: DLTR - news) , $57.46, up 3 pct (9:40 a.m. ET)
The value retailer on Tuesday announced a $2 billion share repurchase program. The company also said it had entered into agreements to repurchase $1 billion of its common shares under a variable maturity accelerated share repurchase program.
** FIVE BELOW INC (NasdaqGS: FIVE - news) , $46.70, down 4 pct (9:40 a.m. ET)
The specialty value retailer on Tuesday announced a secondary offering by its shareholders. The company said shareholders have agreed to sell 7.1 million shares of its common stock, of which 7 million shares would be sold by funds affiliated with Advent International and 100,000 shares will be sold by Five Below's executive chairman. (Compiled by Varun Aggarwal)
