The Digital Wine Ventures Ltd (ASX: DW8) share price has dumped more than 14% after emerging from a trading halt.

Shares in the company were placed in a halt late last week, having last traded at 9.1 cents. After being reinstated to the market, shares in Digital Wines dumped more than 14%, hitting an intra-day low of 7.7 cents.

At the time of writing, the Digital Wines share price has recovered slightly trading at 8.3 cents.

Investors were triggered after the company announced a strategic acquisition earlier today.

Shares in Digital Wines tank on strategic acquisition

Digital Wines announced to the market that the company intended to undertake a strategic acquisition of Parton Wine Group.

Parton Wine was established 14 years ago with more than 23,000 square metres of warehousing around Australia. The company is one of Australia’s largest specialist wine and beverage logistics with over 200 unique suppliers.

In an investor presentation, Digital Wine highlighted that the acquisition would bolster its WINEDEPOT business. According to Digital Wine, the acquisition will provide a lift in key performance metrics and support the company’s growth strategy.

As part of the acquisition, Parton Founder Richard Raddon will join WINEDEPOT’s senior executive team as General Manager of logistics.

Digital Wine CEO, Dean Taylor, commented on the acquisition;

“Along with an immediate lift in key metrics, the acquisition provides us with another 225 customers that can be leveraged to drive further growth across our platform. The scale of the merged operation, overlaid with our investment in state-of-the-art technology, will undoubtedly help position WINEDEPOT as the market leading supply chain solution, focused on supporting the eCommerce shift in the wine industry.”.

Digital Wine was able to raise $7,500,000 via a share placement at 6.5 cents. The capital raising was constructed as a two-tranche placement, with the funds used to fund the acquisition of Parton and support the company’s growth strategy.

More on Digital Wine

Digital Wine is an online beverage supplier that provides end-to-end supply chain solutions for wine producers, distributors, importers and retailers. The company’s WINEDEPOT business operates as a cloud-based software-as-a-service. The WINEDEPOT technology platform removes inefficiencies in supply chains and empowers direct-to-market sales.

In addition to details on the acquisition, Digital Wine also provided an update on its WINEDEPOT business.

The company highlighted that WINEDEPOT has completed the 2nd stage of its rollout in Melbourne. In addition, WINEDEPOT Logistics shipped record 27,000 cases in June. Digital Wine also noted that WINEDEPOT signed up 25 new suppliers and expects WINEDEPOT DIRECT to go live in July.

The post Digital Wine (ASX:DW8) share price dumps on acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why isn’t the Digital Wine (ASX:DW8) share price trading today?

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Empired Ltd (ASX: EPD) share price has jumped firmly into the green today as French company Capgemini announced it has agreed to pay $233 million for the ASX-listed name.

Let’s take a walk through this morning’s events in a bit closer detail.

Quick recap on Empired

Empired is an IT services provider that has expertise in a raft of IT-specific domains, such as cloud services and data insights.

The company provides its services to a wide range of industries. It has two segments that operate in Australia and New Zealand.

At the time of writing, Empired has a market capitalisation of $209 million.

Capgemini’s proposal

French multinational Capgemini announced this morning it proposed to buy 100% of Empired shares for $233 million.

The $1.35 per share bid represents a ~65% premium to Empired’s closing share price on Friday.

Capgemini’s proposal also values Empired at a “normalised EV/EBIT” multiple of 16.7 times for FY 2021.

Empired’s board unanimously recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the proposal, claiming the scheme “is in the best interest of Empired shareholders”.

Speaking on the proposal, Empired chair Tom Stianos stated:

After considering all the relevant factors, we believe this is a compelling offer for Empired shareholders. It provides shareholders with the opportunity to realise immediate value for their shareholding, at a significant premium to current trading levels.

Chief executive Russel Baskerville also weighed in:

If implemented, the Scheme will provide outstanding career opportunties for our people and have a positive impact for existing and prospective clients by providing them with access to the significant resources, service capabilities and international experience of Capgemini.

Baskerville intends to vote “all shares within his control” – around 5.8% of shares on issue – in favour of the proposal.

The market seems to have favoured the announcement, as Empired shares are now exchanging hands at $1.31, a 60% jump on the day.

Empired shareholders are expected to vote on the proposal in early October.

Empired share price snapshot

The Empired share price has posted a return of 92% since January 1. This has extended the previous 12 months’ return of 273% into the green.

Both returns have outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of ~21% over the past year.

The post Empired (ASX:EPD) share price rockets 59% on takeover news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Up 164% in 12 months, Empired (ASX:EPD) share price unmoved by contract win

The author Zach Bristow has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX: PDI) share price is rocketing higher in early afternoon trade, up 52%.

Below, we take a look at the ASX gold share’s latest exploration announcement.

What new results did the gold explorer report?

Predictive Discovery’s share price is soaring after the company reported promising new gold results at its Bankan Project, in Guinea.

Four diamond drill holes – totalling 1,033 metres – intersected “high to bonanza gold grades over broad widths”. The ASX gold explorer said that both gold grade and consistency increased with depth.

Among the top results:

• 7m @ 11.7g/t Au from 301m, including:
  • 0m @ 31.9g/t Au from 313m (including 7.0m @ 50.3g/t Au)
• 6m @ 5.7g/t Au from 237m, including:
  • 40m @ 7.3g/t Au from 239m

Commenting on the latest results, Predictive Discovery’s managing director, Paul Roberts said:

Following up our recent, previous best-ever intercept of 44 metres at 8g/t Au with a significantly broader and higher-grade gold intercept 100 metres to its north is simply remarkable… [W]e can see a clear progression of both increasing grade and grade consistency as we drill deeper.

Roberts said the latest results give the company “a high-grade gold zone which is 100-200 metres long, extends down-dip for over 250 metres and, very promisingly, is open at depth”.

He added:

Our immediate task is to define the new high-grade zone by infill and extension drilling. To this end, the multi-purpose drill rig currently on site will be focused on further defining and extending this zone over the next few months.

Predictive Discovery said it’s working with a Senegal-based drill contractor to get its truck mounted air core rig on to the Bankan Project for the rainy season. That rig will test the newly defined gold targets.

Predictive Discovery share price snapshot

Predictive Discovery’s share price is up 82% over the past 12 months. By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained 24% over that same time.

Year-to-date, the Predictive Discovery share price has been on a tear, up 142% with today’s intraday gains factored in.

The post Here’s why the Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) share price is rocketing 52% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) share price is rocketing 20% today

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The AnteoTech Ltd (ASX: ADO) share price is bouncing around today with above-average trading volume. This comes as Ellume secures further approvals from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 rapid antigen home test.

At the time of writing, the AnteoTech share price is up 4.17% to 25 cents. Meanwhile, the trading volume is around 4.3 million shares. This represents around 91% of the company’s average volume for a whole month.

Let’s look at the latest news and why AnteoTech shares are returning a positive reading today.

More tests to fly out the door

For those unaware, AnteoTech is connected to Ellume by providing its ‘AnteoBind’ technology for Ellume’s at-home tests.

According to recent reports, Brisbane-based Ellume is ramping up its rollout of the tests across the United States. This follows the local company receiving approval from the FDA to sell COVID tests to point-of-care providers. Such providers include doctors, pharmacists, and commercial venues.

While millions of at-home COVID tests are flying off the shelves, Australia can’t say the same. Due to Australian legislation, over-the-counter test kits are currently banned locally.

Additionally, in an interview with The Australian Financial Review, Ellume founder and CEO Mr Sean Parsons said:

Right now, the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration] are not able to review a submission we make for a home COVID test because there is a piece of legislation that is prohibiting them. Their hands are tied. The law was written when pandemics weren’t really imagined and they wanted to force people to record how many of those illnesses [went] through the health system. I don’t think it really makes sense now

The statement is timely given the current situation faced by the New South Wales Government. A further 98 local COVID-19 cases were recorded by the state overnight.

ASX-listed AnteoTech rides the Ellume buzz

The Anteotech share price has had a cracking 12 months, with shares gaining around 650% over the period. Incidentally, AnteoTech is possibly benefitting from the fact that Ellume is not a publically listed company. With Ellume being an AnteoTech customer, investors might consider the ASX-listed company to be the next best thing.

Finally, the AnteoTech share price was the best performing ASX-listed healthcare share in FY21. The company now holds a market capitalisation of around $478.5 million.

The post AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) share price lifts as Ellume US sales ramp-up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The 5 best ASX shares of FY21 revealed
• The 5 best performing ASX healthcare shares of FY21, did yours make the cut?
• These 3 ASX biotech shares are all up at least 120% in a year

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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In early afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a disappointing decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.95% to 7,279.3 points.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are pushing higher:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

The CSL share price is up 1.5% to $282.00. This morning analysts at Ord Minnett retained their hold rating on the biotherapeutics company’s shares but lifted their price target by 5.2% to $280.00. The broker is confident the company’s plasma collections will recover by the end of the year, albeit with higher collection prices.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM)

The Humm share price is up over 6% to $1.04 after releasing a business update. According to the release, the financial services company had a strong finish to the financial year. As a result, it expects to report a FY 2021 cash net profit after tax of $68.4 million. This will be an increase of 121.1% on the prior corresponding period.

IntelliHR Ltd (ASX: IHR)

The IntelliHR share price has jumped 11% to 24.5 following the release of its fourth quarter update. According to the release, the HR technology company finished the financial year in a very positive fashion, reporting $1 million in new contracted business. This was a 236% increase on the same period in FY 2020. This ultimately underpinned the doubling of its annualised recurring revenue in FY 2021.

Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL)

The Vulcan share price is up 2% to $9.50. Investors have been buying the lithium explorer’s shares on Monday after it announced its first offtake agreement. According to the release, Vulcan has signed an initial five-year agreement starting in 2025 with LG Energy Solution for battery grade lithium hydroxide. LG Energy Solution is the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in the world. The agreement is for 5,000 metric tonnes in the first year and then 10,000 tonnes each year thereafter.

The post Why CSL, Humm, IntelliHR, & Vulcan shares are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Humm (ASX:HUM) share price zooms 6% higher after doubling FY 2021 profit
• Why the Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price is jumping 9% on Monday
• The CSL (ASX:CSL) share price is down 9% in a month, here’s why
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX shakes off lockdowns to rise higher
• Why Flight Centre, PolyNovo, Vulcan, & Zip shares are sinking

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Humm Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX: INF) share price plummeted in morning trade. The fall came after the company announced its appeal against the cancellation of the San José Lithium Project’s investigation permit has been unsuccessful.

Right now, Infinity Lithium shares are 19.64% lower than their previous close – swapping hands for 11.3 cents.

Let’s take a closer look at the news driving the Infinity Lithium share price down today.

Quick refresher on San José

Located in Spain, San José is one of Europe’s largest lithium deposits.

San José is a joint venture project between Infinity Lithium and Valoriza Mineria S.A..

Infinity Lithium holds 75% of the project.

Why is the Infinity Lithium share price falling today?

The Infinity Lithium share price is plunging lower today after it was unsuccessful in its appeal against the cancellation of San José’s Investigation Permit Valdeflórez (PIV).

The permit was cancelled in May by the General Directorate of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Extremadura (Junta) due to concerns the project is too close to a township.

According to Infinity Lithium, it was illegal for Junta to cancel San José’s PIV.

The company has employed lawyers and will take the decision to an administrative-contentious appeal process.

Additionally, the company’s Investigation Permit Ampliacion Valdeflorez (PIAV) has been appealed against by a non-government organisation. Fortunately for Infinity Lithium, the appeal has been dismissed.

Commentary from management

Infinity Lithium’s CEO and managing director Ryan Parkin commented on the company’s plans to fight the PIV’s cancellation:

We reiterate our commitment to absolute legality in the process of resolving the multiple administrative inconsistencies and applications of judgements by the Junta. The Junta, for its part, has shown arbitrary discretion and contradictions between the original grant of the Investigation Permit and its recent change of position. The administrative and legal resolution in the face of the same facts cannot change its criteria to suit political endeavours and the company is confident of a positive resolution under the rule of Spanish law.

Infinity Lithium share price snapshot

Today’s fall has added to the woes of the Infinity Lithium share price.

Right now, Infinity shares are 27% lower than at the beginning of the year. However, they have gained 31% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $45 million, with approximately 402 million shares outstanding.

The post The Infinity Lithium (ASX:INF) share price fell 20% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Infinity Lithium (ASX:INF) share price is skyrocketing 17% today
• Here’s why the Infinity share price is powering 6% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The SelfWealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) share price is having a woeful day upon its return on the ASX today. This comes after the online brokerage company announced an update to its capital raising efforts.

At the time of writing, SelfWealth shares are down a sizeable 8.84% to 39 cents. Interestingly, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) was up 0.2% to 7,630 points earlier in the day, before currently falling to 0.97%.

What’s dragging SelfWealth shares lower?

Investors are scrambling to sell SelfWealth shares as the company prepares to dilute existing shareholder value.

According to its release, SelfWealth advised it has received strong support to raise $10 million through a share placement. The offer was presented to both new and existing investors at an issue price of 39 cents per share. This equates to roughly 25.6 million new ordinary shares being added to the company’s registry.

Unsurprisingly, the current SelfWealth share price is now at the same price as offered by the company on 14 July. However, today the company’s shares dipped as low as 37.5 cents, 4% below the issue price of the placement.

SelfWealth will use its existing placement capacity to create the new shares. Under listing rule 7.1, this allows up to an additional 15% of its total shares to be issued without shareholder approval. The company will use an extension to the listing rule (7.1A) to issue the remaining shares (20.2 million).

The funds will be used to accelerate SelfWealth’s growth strategy in delivering diversified revenue streams and increasing market share. This includes expanding product offerings as well as investing in user experience and high-demand features. Furthermore, the company is seeking to implement a robust data and analytics strategy, and increasing headcount to support mobilisation.

SelfWealth also intends to utilise existing cash reserves of around $3 million to pursue its planned growth initiatives.

In addition to the placement, the company will offer a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) to raise an additional $2 million. The SPP will be offered to retail investors at the same price as the placement. The closing date of the SPP is on 6 August 2021.

Management commentary

SelfWealth CEO Cath Whitaker commented on the placement, saying:

We successfully completed the $10 million equity raise with the transaction oversubscribed. We are pleased with the level of engagement from our existing shareholder base along with welcoming new high-quality investors onto the register.

We are excited to be entering this new stage of growth, with the proceeds from the Placement allowing us to accelerate our strategy and continue to improve on the user experience for our members, delivering value and fairness to Australian investors

The SelfWealth share price has fallen more than 26% over the past 12 months and is down roughly 29% year-to-date.

The post SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) share price sinks 9% on capital raising efforts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) share price on watch next week after $10 million capital raising
• Why is the SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) share price frozen today?
• SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) share price dives 11% after fourth quarter results

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some ASX shares that multiple brokers like right now.

If many brokers simultaneously like a business at the current price, then that may suggest there is an opportunity there. Though there’s a risk that they could all be wrong at the same time.

With that in mind, here are two ASX shares that are well-liked by multiple brokers:

Australian Finance Group Ltd (ASX: AFG)

AFG is currently rated as a buy by at least three brokers. One of those brokers is Morgans, which has a price target of $3.30 – that suggests a potential upside of around 25% over the next 12 months if Morgans ends up being right.

The company is one of the largest mortgage broking businesses in the country.

AFG’s FY21 half-year result showed how much demand there is for property loans. Indeed, the company noted that in response to an extraordinarily strong appetite for Australian housing buoyed by government incentives to support the economy, the sector had shown its resilience and AFG had demonstrated growth across the country.

HY21 saw residential settlements rise by 24% to $20.92 billion. There was year on year growth in residential settlements in each month of the first half of FY21, with strong growth in each state. The residential trail book increased by 5% to $160 billion.

This also led to a large double increase of net profit and cashflow for the ASX share. AFG’s net profit after tax (NPAT) increased 36% to $25 million and underlying (cash) profit increased 41% to $25 million as well.

The profit growth allowed the AFG board to declare an interim dividend of 5.9 cents per share.

AFG CEO David Bailey said at the time of HY21:

We head in the second half of the 2021 financial year, with a strong balance sheet, no debt, a solid pipeline of lodgements and a good cashflow. We are well equipped to continue to deliver value to our brokers, choice to customers, competition to the lending market, and returns for shareholders.

Morgans believes that AFG has good growth potential in the current environment and it has expectations of a higher net interest margin (NIM).

Idp Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

The education and English language testing business is currently rated as a buy by five brokers. One of the brokers that likes IDP Education is Morgan Stanley.

The broker believes that things are looking better for the short-term for the business. It thinks that a recovery is on track for the coming months and Morgan Stanley also believes that its market share is expected to increase. But the closed Australian border remains a large potential detractor, as it is an important earnings contributor.

Morgan Stanley has a price target of $33 on the business, which suggests a possible increase of the share price of around 10% over the next 12 months.

The ASX share recently announced that it had entered into a binding agreement to buy 100% of the British Council’s Indian IELTS operations (BC IELTS India) for £130 million on a debt free, cash free basis.

The company explained that IDP and the British Council currently both administer IELTS tests in India operating parallel pan-Indian distribution networks. The transaction will bring BC IELTS India operations under IDP ownership, establishing a single network. Management said this foundation for IELTS will allow it to build on its leadership position in India. It will be the sole distributor of IELTS in the Indian market.

India is the largest IELTS market by volume and has exhibited one of the highest country growth rates in recent years, according to the company.

The post 2 ASX shares rated as strong buys by brokers appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price higher on bullish broker note

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Idp Education Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Australian Strategic Mtrls (Holdings) Ltd (ASX: ASM) share price won’t be going anywhere on Monday after the company requested a trading halt.

The halt was requested on a pending announcement relating to “a material investment into the Company’s Dubbo Project”.

ASM said its shares will remain halted until Wednesday, 21 July or when the announcement is released to the market.

About the Dubbo project

ASM has a unique “mine to manufacturing” business model, leveraging critical materials from its Dubbo project to supply its metallisation plants.

According to ASM, the company intends to develop the Dubbo project to “supply globally significant quantities of zirconium and rare earth metals, as well as contribute to the niobium and emerging hafnium industries”.

In addition, the company highlighted these materials are “in high demand”, with particular use for clean energy and transportation.

The Dubbo project is on the verge of construction, with the company citing “all major approvals and licences in place”.

Recent Dubbo project updates

On 26 March, ASM received firm commitments to raise $65 million at $4.80 per new share.

According to the equity raising presentation, $18 million would be allocated towards the Dubbo project to accelerate its design work.

In the company’s March quarterly activities report, it said “financing for the Dubbo Project will include a strategic partnership underpinned by offtake agreements, construction and engineering, and ultimately, project financing. It is increasingly likely that that strategic partner will be from Korea”.

ASM share price surges in the last two months

It took a while for the ASM share price to get going, tumbling 34% from $6.46 at the start of the year to a low of $4.08 by 13 May.

But in the last two months, the ASM shares have surged from $4 lows to a record high of $7.91 on 30 June.

This move was broadly in line with the bullish performance of renewable-related shares such as lithium miner Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), rare earths producer Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) and battery technology company Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX).

The post Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) share price stilled by trading halt appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why the Novonix (ASX:NVX) share price rocketed 16% today
• It’s been a massive year for the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price
• ASX lithium shares are surging on Tuesday. Here’s why
• These 3 ASX 200 shares were big movers this Monday
• Why is the Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) share price up 4% today?

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a sizeable decline. The benchmark index is currently down 1% to 7,270 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 on Monday:

Altium share price sinks

The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is sinking today after amid reports that it rejected another takeover approach from Autodesk. The reports claimed the US software giant increased its $38.50 per share offer to $40.00 per share, which was swiftly rejected. However, Altium has responded to the speculation, stating that it has not received any further offer from Autodesk.

Oil Search CEO resigns

Investors have been selling Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) shares on Monday after it announced the exit of its CEO, Keiran Wulff. The energy producer revealed that Dr Wulff has resigned for health reasons. It notes that he has been managing a long-term medical condition which has recently deteriorated. In addition to this, the company notes that it had been in discussions with Dr Wulff following the receipt of recent concerns and complaints about his behaviour.

SEEK shares fall after downgrade

The SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price is also on the slide today. This follows the release of a broker note out of Goldman Sachs which reveals that its analysts have downgraded SEEK shares to a sell rating but with an improved price target of $30.80. The broker made the move on an uncertain ad volume outlook and elevated valuation.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price with a 4% gain. This appears to have been driven by bargain hunters taking advantage of a sizeable pullback last week. The worst performer has been the Altium share price with a 9% decline. This is despite the company revealing that it hasn’t received a second takeover offer.

The post ASX 200 midday update: Altium sinks, Oil Search CEO resigns appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX construction shares fall on worksite shutdowns in NSW
• Why the Altium (ASX:ALU) share price is crashing 14% on Monday
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Altium and POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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