The defense rested Friday in the insider trading trial of former SAC Capital Advisors fund manager Mathew Martoma. Jurors will finally get the case and deliberate early this week after closing arguments are completed. Martoma is charged with conspiracy and two counts of securities fraud for trading two drug stocks using confidential information received from two doctors who were involved in a critical drug trial. If convicted, he could spend as many as 20 years in prison on securities-fraud charges.
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Thomas Steyer, retired founder of Farallon Capital Management, suffered a big setback Friday when the State Department released an environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline that found no impact on climate change. Steyer has already spent more than $10 million supporting initiatives and politicians who oppose the controversial pipeline. In an interview with Bloomberg, he calls the pipeline a gigantic mining operation in the middle of nowhere. He asserts in the interview that scientists say the huge project, which is projected to generate tens of thousands of jobs, will be devastatingly terrible for the seven billion on the earth.
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Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill surged nearly 12 percent Friday to close at $552.12 after the company reported very strong quarterly earnings. Chipotle is one of a handful of high-profile shorts by David Einhorns Greenlight Capital. On Friday, Deutsche Bank raised its price target from $500 to $550, citing the unexpected same-store-sales acceleration in a challenging environment. Barclays raised its price target to $520.
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UBS raised its price target on hedge fund favorite Google to $1,350 from $1,300 after the Internet search giant reported results last week that beat the consensus revenue forecast. We continue to see Google as a key large-cap growth stock in our universe on continued operating momentum, the bank told clients in a note Friday. Deutsche Bank raised its price target on Google shares to $1,310 from $1,220. We see GOOG as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the coming wave of mobile transactions as friction gets removed, on top of the newer addressable markets opened by the internet-of-things, the investment bank said. Google also remains one of the banks top ideas.
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Deutsche Bank also raised its price target on AutoNation, one of the only holdings of Edward Lamperts ESL Partners, to $50 from $41 after it reported quarterly results that were well above consensus on higher margins. Even so, the bank kept its rating at Hold due to valuation factors. ESL, the Bay Harbor, Florida-based hedge fund firm has been periodically trimming its position, which is now down to 25 percent, including Lamperts personal stake.
