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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Barclays, BP, LifeLock, Mobileye, Oracle, Southwest Air, Whole Foods More
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Stocks were indicated lower after a dovish FOMC meeting and going into the first look at GDP in the second quarter. The rally from Tuesday and Wednesday was yet another sign of proof that investors want to buy stocks after every stock market sell-off. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.
These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations.
Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was given positive or supportive notes at Goldman Sachs, but a firm named Berenberg overseas maintained its Sell rating noting that all the positive sentiment is already reflected in the price (price target 280p vs. 288p now, implying almost 3% downside). In dollar terms, Barclays rose 2% after earnings on Wednesday to $17.78 and has a consensus price target of roughly $20 versus a 52-week range of $13.27 to $17.86.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) was raised to Buy from Hold with price target of $42 (versus $37.39 close) at Argus. The firm talked up cost-cutting and restructuring efforts and the commitment to the dividend, at a time when shares are trading below the five-year average P/E and Price/Cash Flow.
LifeLock, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOCK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Merrill Lynch, and the firm maintained its $10 price objective. LifeLock shares were up 11% to $8.57 before earnings, and they are indicated down 9.5% at $7.76 after earnings. LifeLock has a $15 or so consensus target that has been coming lower since its regulatory action.
Mobileye NV (NYSE: MBLY) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $68 from $62 (versus $59.44 close) at RBC Capital Markets. Mobileye has a consensus price target of $65.40 and a 52-week range of $31.11 to $63.17.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $50 price target at Jefferies. Oracle has a consensus price target of $46.13 and a 52-week range of $35.82 to $46.71.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was raised to Overweight with a $50 price target at JPMorgan. Southwest closed at $35.52, was indicated up 25 at $36.23 after the call, has a consensus price target of $49.11 and a 52-week trading range of $27.42 to $47.17.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $37 price target (versus $40.82 close, versus $35.50 early Thursday) at Morgan Stanley. Canaccord Genuity downgraded Whole Foods to Hold from Buy with a $38 price target.
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Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from this Wednesday were seen in shares of the following companies:
Angie’s List (NASDAQ: ANGI) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Northland Securities.
Assurant (NYSE: AIZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral and was given a price target of $95 (versus $74.10 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
AXIS Capital Holdings (NYSE: AXS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $40 price target (versus $38.50 close) at Leerink.
DepoMed Inc. (NASDAQ: DEPO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $34 fair value target, due to recent appreciation at Janney Capital Markets. RBC Capital Markets downgraded DepoMed to Sector Perform from outperform with a $32 target.
Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $40 price target (versus $42.69 close) at JPMorgan.
HD Supply Holdings (NYSE: HDS) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $41 (versus $34.64 close) at RBC Capital Markets.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $73 price target (versus $60.04 close) at Societe Generale.
Open Text Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $55 price target (versus $37.63 close) at RBC Capital Markets.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform) and the target price was cut to $58 from $61 at Credit Suisse.
Relypsa, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLYP) was started as Outperform with a $55 price target (versus $34.08 close) at Oppenheimer.
Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.
Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $10 price target (versus $6.78 close) at Barrington Research.
Spectranetics Corp. (NASDAQ: SPNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland Securities.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) was raised to Hold from Sell at Evercore ISI.
In case you missed Wednesday’s top upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Amazon, Citrix, Gilead, Sirius XM, 3D Systems, Twitter, Yelp and over a dozen more.
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