Wednesday Morning's Market Insights: Seadrill Ltd (SDRL), Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI), Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO), Priceline Group Inc (PCLN)

By Kate George

Seadrill Ltd SDRL is up over 4% in pre-market trading, as the price of oil is edging up while major crude producing countries discuss a potential output freeze with skeptic Iran. Investors are eagerly awaiting a decision from a meeting in Tehran between officials from Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, and Qatar regarding oil production. The officials will discuss a proposed deal regarding an agreement to freeze output of oil production at January levels, balancing supply and demand. While Russia and Saudi Arabia are open to such a deal, Iran is insisting to produce its oil output until it reaches pre-sanction levels.

According to TipRanks' statistics, out of the 5 analysts who have rated the company in the past 3 months, 3 gave a Sell rating while 2 remain on the sidelines. The average 12-month price target for the stock is $4.38, marking a 152% upside from where shares last closed.

Kinder Morgan Inc KMI is up over 8% in pre-market trading after Warren Buffett's firm, Berkshire Hathaway, added 26.5 million shares of KMI in the fourth quarter to its portfolio, according to an SEC filing. Kinder Morgan is one of a few gas pipeline companies owned by the billionaire, who now owns $395 million worth of its stock, making him the company's eith largest shareholder.

According to TipRanks' statistics, out of the 12 analysts who have rated the company in the past 3 months, 8 gave a Buy rating while 4 remain on the sidelines. The average 12-month price target for the stock is $22.80, marking a 46% upside from current levels.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc INO is up over 8% after its vaccine for the Zika virus, SynCon^® , showed immune responses in mice during pre-clinical testing. Zika virus belongs to the same family of viruses as yellow fever, dengue, and West Nile virus, which is contracted through mosquitos. The results indicated the development of antibodies in the mice's blood, as well as T cell responses. Inovio is developing the vaccine with GeneOne life sciences and plans to test it on Humans before the year's end.

According to TipRanks' statistics, of the 2 analysts who have rated the company in the past 3 months, both gave a Buy rating. The average 12-month price target between these two analysts is $15.50, marking a 136% upside from where shares last closed.

Priceline Group Inc PCLN is up over 10% in pre-market trading after the company released its Q4:2015 earnings before market open. The company posted sales of $2 billion and earnings of $12.63, compared to estimates of $1.96 billion and $11.73, respectively. The report highlighted booking growth in hotel room nights. For next quarter, the company guided earnings per share between $9 and $9.60, slightly below consensus guidance estimates of $9.63.

According to TipRanks' statistics, out of the 6 analysts who have rated the company in the past 3 months, 4 gave a Buy rating while 2 remain neutral. The average 12-month price target for the stock is 41,426.60, marking a 28% upside from where shares last closed.