Stocks were lower on Friday, but the Nasdaq has had a great week. Despite a bull market that is seven and a half years old, and despite high valuations, investors are still willing and able to buy market pullbacks. These same investors are looking for new ideas on how to make gains or dividends, and they are also looking for ways to keep from losing money.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst upgrades and downgrades each day. Also in the mix are many new coverage initiations, as well as ratings reiterated with price target changes. Some cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are this Friday’s top analyst calls from Wall Street.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $50 price target at Goldman Sachs. Its shares closed at $47.08 on Thursday and were indicated down 1% at $46.40 on Friday. The 52-week trading range is $34.52 to $56.46, and the consensus analyst price target is $54.04.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) was started as Buy at Evercore ISI Group. The stock closed at $25.96, in a 52-week range of $19.00 to $30.11. The consensus price target is $32.56.
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GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) was started as Buy at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed up 8% at $14.16 on Thursday and were indicated up 3% at $14.59 on Friday. The consensus price target is $12.25, and the 52-week range is $8.62 to $35.89.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Positive with a $77 price target (versus a $66.05 prior close) at Susquehanna. It has a consensus price target of $72.14 and a 52-week range of $43.14 to $81.81.
Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was last seen down a sharp 80% or more (at $1.36 a share) after its vaccine missed its primary and secondary endpoints. Downgrades were plentiful and from the likes of Piper Jaffray, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wedbush Securities and Ladenburg Thalmann. The consensus analyst price target was well above $10, based on belief the trial would do well. The old 52-week range was $4.08 to $10.70, and it was mid-2013 that Novavax was last under $2.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) reported earnings and shares were indicated lower on Friday. Jefferies said that this may seem like a typical first quarter on first glance, but the firm actually sees an inflection point in the momentum of the aggregate business and sees business growth clearly in positive territory. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and $42 target, and Nomura reiterated its Buy rating and $45 target. Oracle’s 52-week range is $33.13 to $42.00.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) continues to face pressure after its fake account scandal. The stock was downgraded to Underweight at Atlantic Equities, but early details of the call had not been seen. Shares closed down 0.8% at $46.15 on Thursday and were indicated down another 0.8% at $45.76 early Friday. The 52-week range is $44.50 to $56.34, and the consensus price target is $44.50 to $56.34.
Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were seen in the following:
- Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) was started with an Underperform rating and a $156 price target (versus a $164.50 close) Credit Suisse.
- Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
- DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was started as Negative with a $19 target (versus a $23.61 close) at Susquehanna.
- International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT) was started as Buy with a $30 price target at Argus.
- JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was started as Buy with a $21 price target (versus a $17.53 close) at Imperial Capital.
- Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMLP) was started as Neutral with a $22 fair value estimate at Janney.
- Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
- Watts Water Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WTS) was started as Neutral with a $64 fair value estimate at Janney.
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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, AT&T, Autodesk, Bluebird Bio, Monsanto, Sarepta Therapeutics and many more.
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