Pre-market movers on Feb. 23 (APA, MRO, NRG, UNH, AMAT, AKS, HPQ, NFLX, NVLS, IP)

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Apache, Marathon Oil, NRG Energy, UnitedHealth Group, Applied Materials, AK Steel Holding, Hewlett-Packard, Netflix, Novellus Systems and International Paper.

Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA) shares surged 4.07 percent in pre-market trading session. The company declared quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share, payable on May 23, 2011, to shareholders of record on April 22, 2011.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO) shares gained 2.7 percent to $49.00 in pre-market trading session.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) shares advanced 2.5 percent to $20.47 in pre-market trading session. The company reported fourth quarter loss of $17 million or $0.07 per share compared to a profit of $27 million or $0.11 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) shares gained 2.61 percent to $44.08 in per-market trading session. The stock has a 52 week low of $27.13 and 52 week high of $44.33 and has $46.99 billion market capitalization.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares advanced 2.11 percent to $15.99 in pre-market trading session. The company stock was upgraded to “Overweight” rating from “Neutral” rating at Piper Jaffray.

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE:AKS) shares gained 1.89 percent to $16.18 in pre-market trading session on Wednesday. The company stock was upgraded to “buy” rating from “hold” rating at Keybanc Capital Markets.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) shares plunged 8.89 percent to $43.86 in pre-market trading session as it guided second quarter profit and sales below Street view. The company expects second quarter adjusted earnings of $1.19 to $1.21 per share on revenue of $31.4 billion to $31.6 billion, while analysts’ expected $1.25 per share on revenue of $32.59 billion.

Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:NVLS) shares declined 2.28 percent to $37.75 in pre-market trading session. The stock has a 52 week low of $21.51 and 52 week high of $40.23 and has $3.48 billion market capitalization.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares declined 1.39 percent to $218.51 in pre-market trading session. The company stock was downgraded to “underperform” rating from “hold” rating at Needham.

International Paper Co. (NYSE:IP) shares declined 1.82 percent to $27.00 in pre-market trading session.