wall street

SYMANTEC CORP., $21.60, Nasdaq symbol SYMC, sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. In 2014, the company said it would split into two publicly traded firms. One would keep the Symantec name and focus on antivirus and security software and services. The other, called Veritas Technologies, would consist of Symantec’s information-management business, which makes products for data backup and recovery. However, the company has now decided to sell Veritas to a group of private investors for $8.0 billion. It expects to close the deal on January 1, 2016....

With subprime loans shrinking and a new deal with GE Capital in hand, blue chip stock Wells Fargo should easily keep raising its dividend.

Simplifying operations and boosting its balance sheet under new capital rules, JP Morgan Chase remains one of our top U.S. dividend stocks.

BAXALTA INC., $37.60, New York symbol BXLT, makes vaccines and drugs in three main areas: hematology (blood diseases), immunology (immune system) and oncology (cancer). On July 1, 2015, Baxter International (New York symbol BAX) spun off Baxalta as a separate firm. Investors received one Baxalta share as a tax-deferred dividend for every Baxter share they held. Baxter still owns 19.5% of Baxalta and plans to sell or distribute these shares within five years. The stock jumped 14% this week in response to an unsolicited, all-stock takeover offer from Ireland-based Shire plc (Nasdaq symbol SHPG), a maker of drugs for rare and life-threatening diseases....

Takeovers help Genuine Parts sustain growth—and dividend hikes—in a cyclical field. Our take on how lower gasoline prices help its outlook.

You can find a lesson about acquisitions in our latest edition of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, which we sent out last week.

Investors often under-estimate the hidden risk of a corporate strategy of growth-by-acquisition. This strategy is inherently risky. It’s a little like buying new stock issues.

Acquisitions generally come on the market when it’s a good time to sell. That may not be, and often isn’t, a good time to buy. Insiders and managers at the selling company know a lot more than the buyers about the company itself, and its business strengths and weaknesses.

Some takeovers work out well for the buyers, of course. This doesn’t diminish the inherent risk. More important, risk multiplies as takeovers become a habit.

Takeovers are more likely to succeed when the buyer is already a successful company and is under no pressure to buy anything. That way, the buyer can take its time and wait for a truly attractive, low-risk opportunity to come along.

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PFIZER INC., $36.07, New York symbol PFE, rose 5% this week after reporting better-than-expected results. It also raised its revenue and earnings forecast for all of 2015. Before unusual items, the company earned $3.5 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2015, down 6.5% from $3.8 billion a year earlier. Pfizer spent $6.0 billion on share buybacks during the first half of 2015. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 3.4%, to $0.56 from $0.58, though that still beat the consensus forecast of $0.52. Revenue declined 7.2%, to $11.9 billion from $12.8 billion, but that was also ahead of the consensus forecast of $11.4 billion. Without the negative impact of currency rates, revenue rose 1%....

The apparent price drop is because Baxter International, $37.83, symbol BAX on New York (Shares outstanding: 544.3 million; Market cap: $20.5 billion, www.baxter.com), recently completed the spinoff of Baxalta, $30.26, symbol BXLT on New York (Shares outstanding: 544.3 million; Market cap: $20.7 billion, www.baxalta.com).

Baxter handed out 80.5% of its Baxalta shares to its investors on July 1, 2015, on a one-for-one basis. This new company makes biopharmaceuticals, including vaccines and hemophilia drugs. Baxter plans to sell or distribute the remaining 19.5% over the next five years.

Now that the spinoff is complete, Baxter will focus on medical devices, such as intravenous pumps and kidney-dialysis equipment.

Your Baxalta shares should soon appear on your brokerage statements. Baxter is still a buy.

We’ll say more about Baxalta in the next issue of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, but for now it’s a hold.

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Today, a look at how good companies deal with adverse circumstances. Two dominant Japanese carmakers, Toyota and Honda, have had to deal with massive recalls and repairs from faulty airbag inflators. But both continue to benefit from strong international sales and a lower Japanese yen. Faulty airbag inflators made by Takata Corp. have forced Toyota to recall 8.1 million vehicles since 2008, while Honda has had to fix 20 million cars....

APPLE INC., $124.50, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, reported better-than-expected quarterly results this week. However, concerns about slowing iPhone demand and uncertainty surrounding sales of its new Apple Watch caused the stock to fall 4%. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended June 27, 2015, Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones, up 35.0% from 35.2 million a year earlier, mainly due to strong demand in China. Even so, the latest total missed the consensus forecast of 48.8 million, probably because users are waiting for the company to release a new version later this year. Earnings jumped 37.8% to $10.7 billion from $7.7 billion. Per-share profits gained 44.5%, to $1.85 from $1.28, on fewer shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.81....