Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Best Buy, 3D Systems, EA, Gilead, Nokia, Shire, United Rentals and Many More

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Stocks bounced on Thursday, but Friday’s early trading indications were looking for a sharp sell-off of almost 2%, based on more oil and China weakness. This is also ahead of a three-day weekend for the markets.

Investors have to get tired of seeing every single rally in 2016 act as a trap for suckers. Still, investors had bought every market pullback for over four years. The bearish downside case for the Dow this was week was shown to be down at 15,076 and the nearly unbelievable upside case was up at 19,700.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week. The aim is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Friday’s top analyst calls.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Wedbush Securities with a $21.00 price target. Best Buy closed down about 9.7% at $26.43 on Thursday, and the consensus price target was still listed as near $37.00. Best Buy has a new 52-week trading range of $25.61 to $42.00.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was maintained as Hold at Canaccord Genuity, but the firm lowered its price target to $9 from $10 in the call. The firm noted that it will remain on sidelines ahead of earnings and thinks a reorganization will be a positive catalyst in 2016. 3D Systems has a 52-week range of $7.26 to $33.17 and the consensus price target is down to $12.25 after most analysts have lowered and lowered.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but the firm maintained its $81.00 price objective (versus a $64.48 prior close). The upgrade was as sales gained 26% on Star Wars and as EA’s quarter seems to be tracking rather well with $50 million in revenue upside.


Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch. The price objective is $107.00 (versus a $93.02 close). The firm said that Gilead’s pricing erosion and rebating is now factored into the stock.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, based on synergies and growth potential from the nearly complete acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. What stands out here is the firm’s $12.00 price target, versus the $7.38 close. Nokia’s consensus target is closer to $9.00, and the highest official target tracked by Thomson/First Call is listed as $10.35.

Shire PLC (NASDAQ: SHPG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The target was in local London trading, but the firm said that it implied some 34% upside with the Baxalta deal and with a conservative hemophilia downside scenario.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) has been battered due to its exposure in energy, and now Longbow Research has decided to raise its rating to Buy from Neutral on valuations. Its target of $70.00 is versus a $57.14 close, and the consensus analyst target is $82.60, with a 52-week range of $54.67 to $105.83.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Friday included the following:
Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $84.00 from $96.00 (versus a $46.57 close) at Jefferies.

CAI International Inc. (NYSE: CAI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas.

Copart Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRT) was started as Hold with a $40.00 price target (versus a $34.78 close) at Jefferies.

Enova International Inc. (NYSE: ENVA) was started as Neutral with a fair value estimate of $7.00 (versus a $5.58 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) was reiterated as Buy with a $13.00 price target at Canaccord Genuity. The firm said that management provided more positive data than it had expected.

Fidus Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: FDUS) was started as Neutral with a $15.50 fair value estimate (versus a $13.12 close) at Janney Capital Markets.


Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) was reiterated as Buy with a fair value estimate of $6.50 (versus a $3.45 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $70 from $76 at Argus.

KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE: KAR) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $45.00 price target (versus a $34.18 close) at Jefferies.

LKQ Corp. (NASDAQ: LKQ) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $37.00 price target at Jefferies.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Novartis A.G. (NYSE: NVS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Retail Properties of America Inc. (NYSE: RPAI) was started as Outperform with a $17.50 price target (versus a $14.58 close) at Credit Suisse. It was called out as the firm’s top pick in the shopping center space, with a 25% implied upside versus 15% for peers.

Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) was started as Underweight at UBS.

uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ: QURE) was reiterated as Buy and with a $40 fair value at Janney Capital Markets. The firm considers it in an out of favor sector with compelling entry points at a significant discount.

Upland Software Inc. (NASDAQ: UPLD) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $11.00 from $13.00 at Canaccord Genuity.

If you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Alcoa, GoPro, MetLife, Netflix, SUPERVALU, Walt Disney, Williams Companies, Yelp and over a dozen more companies.

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