Market Update (NYSE:EMC): EXCLUSIVE – EU set to clear Dell’s $67 billion deal to buy EMC: sources

[Reuters] – Dell Inc, the world ’s third-biggest maker of computers, is set to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $67 billion bid for data storage company EMC Corp, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Dell unveiled the deal in October last year, the largest ever in the technology industry sector, and designed to enable Dell to better challenge rivals Cisco Systems Inc, IBM and Hewlett-Packard in cloud computing, mobility and cyber security. European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment on Thursday. Read more on this. EMC Corporation (EMC) , with a current value of $48.99B, opened at $24.90. Today’s price range has been between $24.88 and $25.36 per share and has traded between $22.66 and $29.24 over the past 12 months. EMC shares are currently priced at 13.36x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 5.51x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $0.46 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.91%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 29 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.33 per share, which would be $0.02 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.03 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $1.87 would be a $0.05 better when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $5.63 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.36% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Maxim Group upgraded EMC from Hold to Buy (Jan 28, 2016). Previously, Wells Fargo downgraded EMC from Outperform to Market Perform. When considering if the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $28.52, which is 14.54% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:EMC) Similar Articles: Company Update (NYSE:LMT): Exclusive – Leidos nears $5 billion deal for Lockheed’s IT businesses – sources Stock Update (NYSE:AGN): Teva divesting $1 billion in assets to clear Allergan deal: sources Market Update: Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) – Exclusive: Verizon weighing $10 billion sale of enterprise assets – sources