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Sept 19 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Thursday:
** TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE INC, Wednesdayclose $17.20, up 17 pct after market
Brokerage Macquarie Equities Research raised its pricetarget on the stock to $25 from $23 after the video gamepublisher racked up $800 million in first-day sales of GrandTheft Auto V, the fifth installment of the lucrative franchisethat went on sale across the globe on Tuesday.
Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter in the opening line of hisnote said "Bottom Line - Wow! (and that is an understatement)."
** FACEBOOK INC, Wednesday close $45.23
The social networking company is expanding a service thatlets a group of major marketers measure the effectiveness oftheir ads, in the company's latest move to prove thatadvertising on the world's largest social network leads to realworld sales.
** ORACLE CORP, Wednesday close $33.87, down 2 pctpremarket
The company forecast sales and profit for its second quarterthat fell short of expectations as it continues to battle softglobal IT demand and smaller rivals focused on providingsoftware over the Internet.
** TRANSCEPT PHARMACEUTICALS INC, Wednesday close$3.59, up 9 pct after market
Drugmaker Retrophin Inc said it offered to buy therest of Transcept Pharmaceuticals shares it does not already ownfor $4 per share, valuing Transcept at about $75 million.Retrophin's offer represents an 11 percent premium toTranscept's closing share price of $3.59 on the Nasdaq onWednesday.
** WALT DISNEY CO, Wednesday close $67.11, down 1.5pct after market
A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday denied a request byWalt Disney's ABC unit to stop Dish Network Corp fromselling devices that let viewers skip commercials when watchingprimetime broadcast shows.
** PACIFIC COAST OIL TRUST, Wednesday close $17.98,down 6 pct after market
The statutory trust formed by oil and gas producer PacificCoast Energy Co LP (PCEC) said on Wednesday it would offer 13.5million trust units in an underwritten public offering in PCEC'sbid to repay a portion of its debt.
** APOGEE ENTERPRISES INC, $29.49, down 5.7 pctafter market
The maker of glass products reported second-quarter earningslower than analysts' estimates. The company also raised itsfull-year earnings forecast to between 93 cents and $1 per sharefrom 90 cents to $1 per share. Analysts on average expectearnings of 96 cents per share, according to Thomson ReutersI/B/E/S.
** VODAFONE GROUP , Wednesday close $34.17,down 1.8 pct premarket
The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to stick with itseconomic stimulus programme causes traders to move out of stocksseen as "defensive" plays, such as Vodafone, and into "riskier"plays such as miners.
** SS&C TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS INC, Wednesday close$39.45, down 3.7 pct after market
The company, which makes software for financial serviceproviders, said on Wednesday that investment funds affiliatedwith The Carlyle Group made a public offering of about 7.5million shares of SS&C's common stock.
** FIFTH STREET FINANCE CORP, Wednesday close$10.52, down 2.7 pct after market
The investment company said that it had started a publicoffering of 15 million shares of its common stock. Net proceedsfrom the offering would be used to repay debt, Fifth Streetsaid.
** JAVELIN MORTGAGE INVESTMENT CORP, Wednesday close$13.21, down 7 pct aftermarket
The mortgage company slashed its monthly cash dividend to 15cents per share from 23 cents per share for the fourth quarter.
** GT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INC, Wednesday close$7.55, up 4 pct premarket
Brokerage UBS Investment Research raised its rating on thesolar and LED equipment maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral",according to theflyonthewall.com.
** ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC, Wednesday close $17.15
A U.S. court has handed down a preliminary decision to haltthe closing of Vivendi SA's $8.2 billion deal to sellmost of its stake in Activision Blizzard back to the U.S.company, the games publisher said on Wednesday.
(Compiled by Varun Aggarwal)
Vodafone (VOD)
