Stocks in Motion: Safeguard Scientific Pops, Blue Coat Ripped

Updated from 3:16 p.m. EDT

Safeguard Scientifics (SFE Quote) shares bounced Friday after news of the $254 million sale of software services company CompuCom (CMPC Quote) to Los Angeles private investment firm Platinum Equity.

Safeguard has a 58% voting interest in CompuCom, whose shareholders will receive $4.60 a share under terms of the deal, which includes $35 million in debt financing.

Safeguard shares closed up 11 cents, or 4.51% to $2.55, after hitting a 52-week low of $2.05 last week. About 5 million shares changed hands in recent trading, while CompuCom closed down 35 cents a share, or 7.23% to $4.49 in recent trading of 849,820 shares, about eight times the average volume.

El Paso Corp.(EP Quote) ran low on juice after delaying Securities and Exchange Commission filings and announcing that doing so may have taken it out of compliance with the obligations of its public indentures and other financing arrangements. The Houston energy company planned a conference call Friday to provide an update on its finances and operations.

Shares dimmed 52 cents, or 6.73%, to close down $7.21 on volume of 12.8 million shares.

Blue Coat Systems (BCSI Quote) was a volume leader and loser on the Nasdaq, as its shares peeled off $11.45, or 29.17%, to close at $27.80. About 4.9 million shares were exchanged -- more than 10 times its average daily volume -- after the Sunnyvale, Calif., Web security equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings late on Thursday.

Blue Coat's fourth-quarter earnings were 20 cents a share, well short of the 24-cent analyst estimate from Thomson First Call. Blue Coat also forecast first-quarter earnings of 20 to 21 cents a share, also shy of analysts' 24-cents consensus estimate.