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The S&P 500's Biggest Movers

By Jennifer Schonberger – Updated Apr 6, 2017 at 12:51PM

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The market's movers and shakers on the week.

The S&P 500 edged down last week 0.42% to 1,104.49 after a mixed bag of economic data. Greece's woes also continued to keep gains in check. Despite a volatile month, though, the S&P closed February up 2.9%.

Pops and drops
Here are the five biggest S&P 500 upticks and five biggest S&P 500 drops of last week (measured Friday close to Friday close):

Winners on the week:

Company

Percentage Gain on the Week

Millipore (NYSE: MIL)

32.3%

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE)

29.4%

JDS Uniphase

12.4%

Mylan Inc

11.9%

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP)

9.9%

Source: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's).

Losers on the week:

Company

Percentage Loss on the Week

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB)

(18.2%)

GameStop (NYSE: GME)

(10.9%)

Western Digital

(10.5%)

Monsanto (NYSE: MON)

(9.1%)

First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR)

(8.8%)

Source: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's).

A closer look
Last week brought some welcome M&A activity. Shares of Millipore soared last week after the life sciences technology and tools company confirmed it was exploring "strategic alternatives," including a merger or outright sale. There was speculation that Thermo Fisher Scientific would acquire Millipore; however, over the weekend we learned that Merck has inked a deal to acquire Millipore for $7.2 billion (including assumed debt). The deal is said to diversify Merck's businesses and enhance its lab equipment unit.

In other M&A news, stock in Coca-Cola Enterprises soared last week after Coca-Cola agreed to buy its largest bottler's North American operations in a transaction valued at more than $13 billion. The remainder of the bottling operations, which exist in Europe, will operate independently and continue to produce and distribute Coke products in Europe. The move is a departure for Coke, which has long kept its bottling operations separate. As consumers drink fewer soft drinks, large-volume shipments from independent bottlers no longer make business sense. The move is seen as a way to give Coke greater flexibility to produce, bottle and ship the amount of inventory of a particular drink -- be it soda or niche drinks -- that the demand in the market dictates. The deal comes on the heels of archrival Pepsi's acquisition of its bottlers.

Interested in the other stocks on this list? Visit The Motley Fool's free CAPS community for further research and opinions on these stocks!

Related Foolishness:

Fool contributor Jennifer Schonberger does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned in this article. You can follow her on Twitter. Monsanto and Coca-Cola are Motley Fool Inside Value selections. First Solar is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are Motley Fool Income Investor recommendations. Motley Fool Options has recommended a diagonal call position on PepsiCo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Stocks Mentioned

The ODP Corporation Stock Quote
The ODP Corporation
ODP
$35.12 (-1.07%) $0.38
First Solar, Inc. Stock Quote
First Solar, Inc.
FSLR
$129.85 (-1.46%) $-1.92
GameStop Corp. Stock Quote
GameStop Corp.
GME
$25.04 (1.38%) $0.34
Monsanto Company Stock Quote
Monsanto Company
MON
H&R Block, Inc. Stock Quote
H&R Block, Inc.
HRB
$43.82 (-0.41%) $0.18

*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.

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