Seven Highly Unusual Volume Spikes (BYD, MTG, NS, PANW, PRAN, SCSS, SSYS)

Investing

Published: March 4, 2013 11:00 am

24/7 Wall St. is tracking seven highly unusual volume spike stocks within the first 90 minutes of trading so far this Monday. We have shown the price and volume on a relative basis and added in color if applicable on each.

Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) is already almost hitting 200% of a normal day’s trading volume on news that Genting is buying its Las Vegas Echelon Resort foir $350 million, after the company reported a loss for the quarter. Boyd shares are up 10% at $7.11, on more than 3.9 million shares of stock. The average volume is only 2.1 million shares and the 52-week range is $4.75 to $8.52.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) is up after FBR Capital Markets maintained its Market Perform rating but raised its target price to $4 from $1. Its average volume is about 6 million shares per day, and the 52-week range is $0.66 to $5.15. MGIC is up over 12% at $4.28, on more than 16.5 million shares.

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) was downgraded at Credit Suisse today and we have already seen shares hit almost two-times the average daily volume of about 383,000 shares. The units are down 4.9% at $48.01 against a 52-week range of $38.43 to $62.13.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE: PANW) is down almost 5% at $55.85, after what was supposed to be a cautiously optimistic Barron’s review. We have already seen more than 2.1 million shares trade hands, versus an average daily volume of 840,000 shares.

Prana Biotechnology Ltd. (NASDAQ: PRAN) is trading higher after positive data in analysis that helps to identify Alzheimer’s. The usual volume is only about 53,000 sharesm and its 52-week trading range is $1.41 to $3.06. This is closed to a 20-times volume spike, with shares up 13% at $2.76 on 1.03 million shares.

Select Comfort Corp. (NASDAQ: SCSS) hit a new 52-week low after it gave a business update and said that it will miss its business goals internally. The prior 52-week range was $19.00 to $35.60, and the average daily volume is about 1.2 million shares per day. This is down more than 15% at $17.26 and we are already closing in on a 3-times volume spike with some 3.3 million shares having traded.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) is surging after reporting that revenue rose more than 23%. This is a very volatile stock that usually trades only about 835,000 shares per day, and its 52-week range is $32.87 to $92.30. This is up 7.6% at $69.18, and almost 2.2 million shares have traded hands.

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