Early Stocks in Motion
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Report
acquired Oblix Inc., a privately held maker of identity management software. Oracle would not say how much it paid for Oblix, but said it will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday to discuss the acquisition. The stock was up a penny in after-hours trading to $12.44.
LifePoint Hospitals
(LPNT)
and
Province Healthcare
(PRV)
announced that both companies' shareholders have approved LifePoint's proposed acquisition of Province. The deal is expected to close on April 15. LifePoint was up 94 cents, or 2.25%, to $42.80, while Province was unchanged at $23.48.
HCA
(HCA) - Get Report
announced that preliminary results for its first quarter ending March 31, 2005, should fall in the range of 88 cents to 93 cents a share, compared to 69 cents a share for the prior year's first quarter. Analysts were looking for 76 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call. The stock was up $3.96, or 8.1%, to $52.83 in after-hours trading.
An
SEC
probe of vendor payments at
Saks
(SKS)
has gone from informal to formal, and the company pushed back the completion date of its own investigation of the matter from March to April. The inquiry centers on the receipt of markdown allowances from vendors at one of its merchandising divisions.
Millennium Cell
( MCEL) said that it delivered a hydrogen-on-demand system for testing to the U.S. Department of Defense. The system helps use fuel cell systems as interchangeable power sources for military equipment. The stock was up 43 cents, or 23%, to $2.30 after hours.
NetIQ Corp
( NTIQ) announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its WebTrends Web-analytics business unit to Francisco Partners for $94 million in cash. The stock was up 15 cents, or 1.38%, to $11.
CMS
(CMS) - Get Report
said it plans to offer 16 million shares of common stock to the public under its current shelf registration. The underwriter will be granted an option to purchase an additional 2.4 million shares to cover over-allotments. The stock was down 29 cents, or 2.3%, to $12.40.
Fannie Mae
( FNM) said investors won't see its quarterly capital classification for the period ended Dec. 31 "at this time." The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie's regulator, usually determines and announces the company's quarterly capital classification within 90 days of the end of the quarter. The stock was down 17 cents, or 0.31%, to $54.71 in after-hours trading.