Albany, New York (09/22/2014) – Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) registered a gain Friday, following a company announcement that one of its directors was stepping down. Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) announced that Robert M. Whelan Jr., who joined its Board of Directors in April 2010 and served in the Audit and Compensation Committees, would resign his Board seat effective October 1. The resignation of Whelan has led some to think that Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA)’s CEO, Harvey Berger, was also on his way out soon than later. Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) reported a loss of $0.30 per share in the most recent quarter, missing the estimate of $0.29 for the quarter.

ING Groep NV (ADR) (NYSE:ING)’s Board member, Hans van der Noordaa, is set to step down from the $60 billion global financial institution company to become the CEO of Delta Lloyd N.V. He will step down from the Board of ING next month and will take up his new position at Delta Lloyd in January next year. Noordaa joined the Executive Board of ING Groep NV (ADR) (NYSE:ING) in 2006. ING Groep NV (ADR) (NYSE:ING) has witnessed a number of analysts commenting on its prospect, earning it a consensus rating of a “buy” and average target price of $22.83.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) said its specialty insurance unit, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), intends to venture into life sciences industry because of the opportunities there. The expanded underwriting capabilities will allow BHSI to tap new opportunities in term of revenue by offering insurance packages such as product liability risk, which may include medical devices, generic pharmaceuticals and clinical trials. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B)’s specialty insurance arm said that John Parente, coming from Lexington Insurance Co., will head the life sciences division.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) will on October 15 treat its investors to another quarterly dividend of 24.5 cents per share, which will be paid to shareholders of record as of September 30. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) paid the same amount of dividend in the previous quarter. The dividend announcement comes when a number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB). As such, the $77.9 billion financial services holding company carries a consensus rating of a “hold” and target price of $43.95.