Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BioMarin, BP, Micron, Vonage, Finisar, ConEd, Red Hat and More

Investing

Published: June 19, 2015 8:50 am

Stocks were indicated marginally higher on Friday morning, a day after the Nasdaq finally took out its all-time highs from March of 2000. One constant over the past three and a half years has been that investors buy every single pullback. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst and brokerage research reports each morning of the week to find value and upside, or new trading and investing ideas, for our readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and others are about stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, but the firm raised its target price to $133 from $125 (versus a $138.66 close). This was after a 12% move higher the prior day based on its dwarfism drug.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $34 from $30 (versus a $24.47 close) at Topeka Capital Markets. Micron’s consensus price target is $37.30, and its 52-week trading range is $23.70 to $36.59.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $6.00 price target (versus a $4.81 close) at Oppenheimer. The consensus price target is $6.12, and Vonage has a 52-week range of $3.10 to $5.20.

Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy and the price target was cut to $24 from $27 (versus a $22.15 close) at Raymond James. Shares were indicated lower after earnings. Finisar’s consensus price target was $24.41, and it has a 52-week range of $14.22 to $23.38.

ALSO READ: 10 Stocks to Own for the Next Decade

Additional top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in shares of the following companies this Friday:

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was raised to Hold from Sell with a price target drop to $58 from $62 (versus a $59.20 close) at Evercore ISI.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas.

EnCana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $15.00 (versus a $11.76 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (NYSE: ETP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a price objective of $64.00 (versus a $56.19 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

EP Energy Corp. (NYSE: EPE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $18 price target (versus a $13.18 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

ALSO READ: 6 Analyst Stocks With 50% to 100% Upside Calls

Lumenis Ltd. (NASDAQ: LMNS) popped Thursday on news that it was being acquired at $14.00 per share by XIO Group. It was downgraded to Hold From Buy and the price target was cut to $14 from $16 at Jefferies. Credit Suisse cut its rating to Underperform from Outperform with a $14 price target.

Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) was reiterated Outperform and the price target was raised to $84 from $78 at Credit Suisse. The stock closed at $78.49 ahead of earnings.

Sharps Compliance Corp. (NASDAQ: SMED) was started as Overweight with a price target of $9.00 (versus a $6.75 close) at a firm called First Analysis.

Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF) was resumed with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO) was started as Outperform at William Blair.

ALSO READ: 5 Stocks to Buy With Almost Perfect Balance Sheets

In case you missed out on Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations, they included Bankrate, Eli Lilly, Embraer, Oracle, Southwest Airlines and over a dozen more.

The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today ^(Sponsor)

The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

¹https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps