Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: DepoMed, Gap, Intel, IBM, Nimble Storage, Workday and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: November 20, 2015 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:56 pm

Stocks were indicated higher again on Friday after a small breather on Thursday. Investors just keep showing over and over that they want to buy stocks. Investors are looking for growth, hidden value and other undiscovered opportunities. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

DepoMed Inc. (NASAQ: DEPO) was reiterated as Buy with a $35 fair value estimate (versus a $19.39 prior close) after Horizon finally dropped its bid that DepoMed was not going along with. DepoMed has a $29 consensus price target and a 52-week trading range of $14.38 to $33.74.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was indicated lower and under $25 after yet another poor earnings report. Gap saw its price target cut at FBR, Stifel and more firms. Gap was indicated at $24.60, had a consensus analyst target price of $29.10 before these cuts and has a 52-week range of $24.70 to $43.90.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy with a $39 price target at Canaccord Genuity based on its growth targets. Topeka kept its Buy rating and raised its target to $38 from $36. As expected, Intel did raise its dividend and guidance this week. Intel rose another 3.4% to $34.30 on Thursday and was indicated marginally higher on Friday. Intel’s consensus analyst target price is $34.92 and its 52-week range is $24.87 to $37.90.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was started as Market Perform with a $167.00 price target (versus a $136.74 close) at JMP Securities. IBM has a consensus price target of $149.17 and a 52-week range of $131.65 to $176.30.

Nimble Storage Inc. (NYSE: NMBL) was indicated to be cut in half, down 48% or so around $10.50, after reporting a loss and a revenue miss. RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform. Barclays cut Nimble Storage’s rating to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the target price to $15 from $30. Other downgrades were seen from Stifel, Oppenheimer, Pac-Crest, Raymond James and more.

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Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $84 from $99 (versus an $84.30 close) at Wedbush Securities. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and increased its price target to $95 from $90. Workday shares were indicated down 6% at $79.00 after earnings and guidance were not exactly stellar and as valuations remain very high.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following on Friday:

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets. Canaccord Genuity said that it is keeping its Hold rating but could upgrade Autodesk to Buy if an activist mysteriously appears.

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Diageo PLC (NYSE: DEO) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

El Paso Electric Co. (NYSE: EE) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.

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Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) was started as Neutral at R.W. Baird.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was started as Outperform with a $32 price target at FBR Capital Markets.

Mentor Graphics (NASDAQ: MENT) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $98 from $120 (versus a $90.26 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Trimble Navigation Ltd. (NASDAQ: TRMB) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $26 price target (versus a $22.17 close) at Goldman Sachs.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was maintained as Buy at Mizuho Securities, but the earnings warnings and threat to leave the individual exchanges took the price target down to $130 from $155.

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In case you missed Thursday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Keurig Green Mountain, ON Semiconductor, Salesforce.com, Sunoco, Walt Disney, Wendy’s and about a dozen more companies.