Category: Stock Market News

Whole Foods Market Inc.’s stock soared 27% to a two-year high in morning trade Friday, but some law firms aren’t convinced that the deal to be bought out by Amazon.com Inc. is fair to its shareholders. Johnson & Weaver LLP said it has launched an investigation into whether Whole Foods’ board breached fiduciary responsibilities with the proposed sale of the company. The firm said it was concerned whether the proposed deal price of $42 a share represents “adequate consideration,” given that at least one Wall Street analyst had a $47 stock price target. The average price target of the analysts surveyed by FactSet was $34.61, with $47 the highest and $19 the lowest. Levi & Korsinsky LLP said it was investigating the “fairness” of the sales of the company. The $42-per-share bid was 36% below the record close of $65.24 reached on Oct. 25, 2013. Whole Foods’ stock has run up 37% year to date, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has gained 7.7% and the S&P 500 has advanced 8.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The consumer-staples sector, heavily populated by shares of grocers, is on track to book its worst one-day decline since November, as Amazon.com Inc. said it will buy Whole Foods Market Inc. in a $13.7 billion merger. Consumer staples shares in the S&P 500 index were down 1.6% and looking at their worst single-session drop since Nov. 30, when the sector tumbled 1.7%, according to FactSet data. A popular fund used to bet on consumer-staples companies, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF , was down 2.4% and pacing its worst daily fall since Nov. 10. Shares of Kroger Co. led losses, down more-than 13%, Costco Wholesale Corp. was off 7% and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell about 6%. The consumer-staples sector of the S&P 500 index was the worst performer of the index’s 11 sectors. More broadly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index traded 0.2% lower.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

The consumer-staples sector, heavily populated by shares of grocers, is on track to book its worst one-day decline since November, as Amazon.com Inc. said it will buy Whole Foods Market Inc. in a $13.7 billion merger. Consumer staples shares in the S&P 500 index were down 1.6% and looking at their worst single-session drop since Nov. 30, when the sector tumbled 1.7%, according to FactSet data. A popular fund used to bet on consumer-staples companies, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF , was down 2.4% and pacing its worst daily fall since Nov. 10. Shares of Kroger Co. led losses, down more-than 13%, Costco Wholesale Corp. was off 7% and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell about 6%. The consumer-staples sector of the S&P 500 index was the worst performer of the index’s 11 sectors. More broadly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index traded 0.2% lower.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Jeff Bezos is having some “fun” on Friday. The $34.39, or 3.6% surge in Amazon.com Inc.’s stock, after the deal to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. , is boosting the the Amazon co-founder and CEO’s coffers by about $2.75 billion. Bezos is Amazon’s largest shareholder, with 79.90 million shares, or 16.7%, of the shares outstanding, according to FactSet. “Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” Bezos said in a statement. Amazon’s stock has run up 33% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.5%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.K. and European grocery shares fell Friday following Amazon.com Inc.’s deal to buy upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market Inc. in a $13.7 billion deal. . Dutch supermarket chain Royal Ahold Delhaize NV , whose stores include Giant and Stop and Shop, tumbled 7.5%. Tesco PLC dropped 3.9% in a volatile session for the U.K.’s largest supermarket chain after it reported first-quarter sales growth. Stock in Britain’s J Sainsbury PLC tanked 4.5%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

Amazon.com Inc. announced Friday that it’s acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc. for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction of about $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods’ debt. The deal implies a $13.4 billion market cap for the natural and organic grocer. Whole Foods will continue to operate under the Whole Foods angle, and John Mackey will continue as chief executive of Whole Foods with its headquarters remaining in Austin, Tex. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the second half of 2017. Amazon shares are are down 0.5% in Friday premarket trading, and Whole Foods shares were halted. Shares of Amazon are up 34.4% for the past year, Whole Foods shares are up 7.3%, and the S&P 500 index is up 17.1% for the period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened little changed on Friday, as Wall Street tried to cap a week marked by nagging pain in the technology sector and a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike. Trading action also comes as Amazon.com Inc. said it would purchase grocery chain Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion or $42 a share. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16 points, or less than 0.1%, at 21,349, the S&P 500 index was flat at 2,431, with consumer-staples sinking led by a 15% decline in shares of Kroger Co. , extending that grocery chains slide from the previous session. The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, was off 0.3% at 6,146 and set to end the week down nearly 1%, marking its second straight weekly decline in a row, as shares of high-flying companies like Amazon, Netflix Inc. . Facebook Inc. , Google-parent Alphabet Inc. retreated sharply from at or near record prices.

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From:: Stock Market News

Investors will have to wait a little longer to see how Whole Foods Market Inc.’s stock reacts to the buyout deal with Amazon.com Inc. . The natural and organic grocer’s stock has been halted for news since 8:54 a.m. ET, and isn’t scheduled to resume trading until 9:50 a.m. Amazon’s bid of $42 a share for Whole Foods is 27% above Thursday’s closing price of $33.06, and is the highest price seen since May 29, 2015, but is 36% below the Oct. 25, 2013 record close $65.24. Whole Foods’s stock has gained 7.3% over the past year, while Amazon shares have rallied 34% and the S&P 500 has gained 17%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it will acquire menswear company Bonobos for $310 million in cash. Bonobos launched online in 2007, and opened its first shop in 2011. The deal is expected to close toward the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter. Andy Dunn, founder and chief executive of Bonobos, will report to Marc Lore, chief executive of Walmart U.S. e-commerce. Dunn will oversee Bonobos and ModCloth, Wal-Mart’s collection of digitally-native brands. In recent months, Wal-Mart has also acquired other online fashion companies including Moosejaw and ShoeBuy. Wal-Mart shares are down nearly 6% in Friday premarket trading in the wake of the M&A news from Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. . Wal-Mart shares are up 14.2% for the year so faf while the S&P 500 index is up 8.7% for the period.

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President Donald Trump for the first time confirmed that he was the personal target of an investigation over his firing of then-FBI Director James Comey. “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted.

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From:: Stock Market News