Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Corrections Corp, Fortinet, Motorola Solutions, Procter & Gamble, Xilinx and More
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Stocks were indicated to open lower on Wednesday, a theme that is becoming common this week. Still, stocks remain close to all-time highs and investors are not backing down from high valuations. Investors have also bought almost every sell off in the market for over five years now. One thing to consider is that investors are also looking for new ideas to generate gains or income ahead.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, and others feature stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday morning:
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was raised to Neutral from Underperform, and the price target was raised to $7.00 from $5.50 (versus a $6.50 prior close), at Credit Suisse. AMD has a 52-week trading range of $1.75 to $8.00 and a consensus analyst price target of $6.16.
Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE: CXW) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $13.40 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. It has a 52-week range of $13.04 to $35.05 and a consensus price target that is now down at $20.50.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs but was removed from the Conviction Buy list, and the price target was cut to $36 from $43. Shares closed at $34.09, but Fortinet’s revenue and earnings warning had shares down almost 14% at $29.45 in early indications on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $23.16 to $44.63.
Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $84 from $72 (versus a $73.50 close) at BMO Capital Markets. It has a 52-week range of $59.13 to $78.99 and a consensus price target of $75.08.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $103 price target (versus an $88.54 close) at Argus. The 52-week range is $73.50 to $90.33.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $52 price target (versus a $50.99 close) at Robert W. Baird. The 52-week range is $40.44 to $55.49. The consensus price target is $51.63.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
Barracuda Networks Inc. (NYSE: CUDA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $32 from $18 (versus a $23.33 close) at Piper Jaffray. The stock closed down 2.9% on Wednesday, but after higher revenue and earnings its shares were up 8.9% at $25.40 in early trading on Wednesday. The old 52-week range was $9.44 to $25.77.
Brooks Automation Inc. (NASDAQ: BRKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a target price of $16.50 (versus a $13.26 close) at Citigroup.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $44 from $53 (versus a $50.79 close) at UBS.
Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: ENH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney, with the firm noting that it does not see a competing offer coming.
GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $52 target price (versus a $39.66 close) at Argus.
Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $27 from $33 (versus a $25.92 close) at Cowen.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest.
LPL Investment Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $31 (versus a $33.01 close) at JPMorgan.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $17.50 from $13.50 (versus a $12.83 close) at Credit Suisse.
Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE: MHK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. (NYSE: NTB) saw analysts issue mostly positive ratings after its quiet period ended, and now Wells Fargo is starting coverage as Market Perform.
Merrill Lynch has increased its inflation expectations to above consensus, and it has identified sector and market winners.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Caterpillar, Illumina, Nike, Seagate Technology, Twitter, Tyson Foods, Western Digital and about a dozen more.
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