Morning Buzz: BlackRock (BLK), Bank of America (BAC), Versar Inc. (VSR), Shire plc (SHPG), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM)

Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) are up more than 4 points in pre-market trading Wednesday after the asset management firm reported a 10% increase in assets under management and a 26% increase in earnings from the 3Q of last year. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink told CNBC this morning that BlackRock has had $48B in net new flows into its fixed income funds this year.

On valuation measures, the asset manager, currently valued at $51.64B, has a median Wall Street price target of $358.00 with a high target of $415.00. In the past 52 weeks, shares of the New York City-based firm have traded between a low of $281.14 and a high of $337.65 with the 50-day MA and 200-day MA located at $326.52 and $314.49 levels, respectively. Additionally, shares of BLK trade at a P/E ratio of 1.04 and have a Relative Strength Index (RSI) and MACD indicator of 37.55 and -14.50, respectively.

BLK currently prints a one year return of about 11.29% and a year-to-date loss of around 1.28%.

BlackRock recently traded at $311, up $4.26, or 1.39 percent.

Shares of Bank of America (BAC) are fractionally higher in pre-market trading Wednesday after the bank reported a smaller-than-expected Q3 loss of $70 million, or 1 cent a share. Analysts had expected a loss of 9 cents a share. The bank said its bottom line was affected by charges related to its recent $16.65B settlement with the Justice Department.

On valuation-measures, shares of Bank of America Corporation have a trailing-12 and forward P/E of 25.89 and 11.01, respectively. P/E to growth ratio is 5.30, while t-12 profit margin is 9.32%. EPS registers at $0.64. The company has a market cap of $173.72B and a median Wall Street price target of $18.00 with a high target of $22.00.

On trading-measure, BAC has a beta of 1.42 and a short float of 0.87%. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank have traded between a low of $13.80 and a high of $18.03 with the 50-day MA and 200-day MA located at $16.66 and $15.82 levels, respectively.

BAC currently prints a one year return of about 15.69% and a year-to-date return of around 6.58%. Ticker gained 15 cents to $16.68 in recent trading.

Shares of Versar Inc (VSR) are surging again, up 28% in pre-market trading Wednesday. The name continues to spike, rising nearly 25% over the last two trading sessions. The name is being picked up as an Ebola momentum play as company’s website showcases some infection control units.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Springfield, Virginia-based firm have traded between a low of $2.69 and a high of $5.20 and are now at $5.51. Shares are down 1.64% year-over-year and 13.04% year-to-date.

The chart below shows where the equity has traded over the last 52 weeks, with the 50-day and 200-day MAs included.

Shares of Shire plc (SHPG) are down 60 points, or 25%, after U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company AbbVie (ABBV) announced it has notified the British drug maker of its Board of Directors’ intention to reconsider the recommendation made on July 18, 2014 that AbbVie stockholders adopt the merger agreement needed to complete the proposed combination of AbbVie and Shire. The new development comes after new U.S. rules are making it harder for American companies to lower taxes through overseas deal making.

Shire plc shares are currently priced at 43.53x this year’s forecasted earnings compared to the industry’s (9.36)x earnings multiple. Ticker has a PEG and forward P/E ratio of 1.57 and 22.42, respectively. Price/sales for the same period is 8.92 while EPS is $5.62. Currently there are 6 analysts that rate SHPG a ‘Buy’, while 12 rate it a ‘Hold’. No analyst rates it a ‘Sell’. SHPG has a median Wall Street price target of $261.57 with a high target of $278.00.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Dublin, Ireland-based company have traded between a low of $118.08 and a high of $264.98 and are now at $185. Shares are up 107.02% year-over-year and 73.69% year-to-date.

Shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PPHM) are up 30 cents, or 21.43%, at $1.70,. The company today announced that data to be published in the Journal of Immunology Research supports Phosphatidylserine as a potential target in Ebola Infection. The manuscript details the results from a study demonstrating that exposed PS allows for the specific binding of bavituximab to purified Ebola virions and EBOV-infected cells in vitro.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of Tustin, California-based firm have traded between a low of $1.16 and a high of $3.18 and are now at $1.62. Shares are down 0.71% year-over-year ; up 0.72% year-to-date.

The chart below shows where the equity has traded over the last 52 weeks, with the 50-day and 200-day MAs included.

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