Walgreen, Monsanto, AOL, Amedisys among companies making big moves in the stock market

Walgreen, Monsanto, AOL among big market movers

NEW YORK — Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

NYSE

Walgreen Co., up $3.46 at $33.81

The country’s largest drugstore chain posted a higher quarterly profit as pharmacy sales improved and it added more than 500 stores.

Barnes & Noble Inc., up 4 cents at $16.49

Shareholders of the bookseller sided with Chairman Leonard Riggio in a proxy fight, dealing a blow to billionaire investor Ron Burkle.

Monsanto Co., down $4.32 at $48.75

A Jefferies analyst said the yield of the agribusiness company’s genetically modified corn seed has so far been weaker than expected.

AOL Inc., up 63 cents at $24.15

The Web copmany is buying technology blog TechCrunch and other blogs in its network in a bid to expand its news production.

NASDAQ

DryShips Inc., up 38 cents at $4.85

The Greek shipping company and oil services provider won a contract worth about $135 million for an offshore drilling project.

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., up $2.49 at $33.10

The drug developer is buying Qualitest Pharmaceuticals for $1.2 billion to strengthen its position in the generic and pain drug markets.

Amedisys Inc., down $4.41 at $24.02 The Department of Justice wants the home health services provider to turn over billing and reimbursement claims submitted to Medicare since 2003.

Cognex Corp., up $3.61 at $26.50 The maker of machine vision sensors and systems raised its revenue guidance for the third quarter.