Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Applied Materials, Cerner, Cisco, J&J, Level 3, Salesforce and Many More

Investing

Published: May 15, 2017 9:15 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 12:01 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Monday despite a global hack spreading. The major market indexes are all within striking distance of all-time highs. It is also important to consider that this bull market is now more than eight years old and investors have bought every single pullback. Those same investors are also looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, May 15, 2017.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $50 from $43 at Needham. Its shares closed at $43.44 on Friday, in a 52-week trading range of $19.54 to $43.64 and with a consensus analyst target price of $41.43. While Applied Materials shares are now trading above the consensus target price, note that the prior street-high analyst target ahead of this call was $45.

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $66 price target (versus a $64.36 prior closing price) at Merrill Lynch. It has a 52-week range of $47.01 to $67.50 and a consensus price target of $64.75. This report noted that a new Merrill Lynch survey suggested that the downturn in hospital spending on HCIT is likely to be less severe and have a shorter duration than the firm’s prior beliefs, and the firm also upgraded Cerner for its Veterans Affairs (VA) contract opportunity.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was raised to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $39 price target at Morgan Stanley. Cisco shares closed down 0.5% at $33.45 on Friday, and the stock was indicated up 2% at $34.12 on Monday. Its 52-week range is $26.49 to $34.60 and it has a consensus price target of $35.84. Cisco’s street-high analyst target is up at $42.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $140 price target (versus a $123.64 close) at JPMorgan. Its shares were indicated up 0.8% at $124.67 on Monday morning. Analysts have a consensus price target of $129.00 on Johnson & Johnson, and the 52-week range is $109.32 to $129.00.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. Shares closed up 0.27% at $59.09 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $44.01 to $61.43 and with a consensus target price of $62.82. As a reminder, CenturyLink is in the process of acquiring Level 3, and CenturyLink recently had a stake added by the activist hedge fund Corvex Management.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $100 from $92 at BMO Capital Markets. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and $102 price target, with the firm noting that demand trends have been improving since December across the software universe and that Salesforce’s work to accelerate its adoption in large enterprises is bearing fruit. After rising 1.5% on Friday, it was indicated up 1% higher at $89.90 on Monday.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was started with a Neutral rating at Merrill Lynch, and it was assigned a $14 price objective.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform with a $55 price target at Imperial Capital. CyberArk closed down 12.4% at $48.29 on Friday but was indicated up 3% at $50.00 in early Monday trading indications.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) was raised to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank. It closed down 0.5% at $40.35 in New York trading on Friday, but it was indicated up 2.8% at $41.47 on Monday morning.

Ellie Mae Inc. (NYSE: ELLI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $130 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The call was based on the loan origination system being a category killer in its own words. Ellie Mae closed up 0.5% at $107.08 on Friday and was indicated up 5.8% at $113.30 on Monday morning. Its consensus target price was $117.36 and its 52-week range is $76.63 to $112.77.

Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) was already rated as Buy but the stock was now added to the prized Conviction Buy List with a $95 price target (versus a $72.42 close) at Goldman Sachs. Its 52-week range is $68.09 to $94.81m and the consensus analyst target was just $81.07 ahead of this call. This is also the highest target price on all of Wall Street.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Guidewire Software Inc. (NYSE: GWRE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $68 price target (versus a $61.00 close) at Merrill Lynch. This effectively reverses a valuation downgrade from last year.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was reiterated as Neutral with a $53 price target (versus a $55.21 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that its shares have underperformed since the election but were up 22% so far in 2017, even as estimates have repeatedly been revised downward and a number of bull-cases have been rebutted.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $210 price target (versus a $153.79 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE: LYG) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $20 from $19 (after falling 2% to $18.41 on Friday) at FBR Capital Markets.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at William Blair. After rising 1% to $29.96 on Friday, Stratasys was down almost 4% at $28.80 early on Monday.

Visteon Corp. (NYSE: VC) was started with a Sector Perform rating and assigned a $110 price target (versus a $103.58 close) at RBC Capital Markets. Visteon closed up 1.8% at $103.58 on Friday.

Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WAIR) was raised to Hold from Underperform with a $9 price target (versus an $8.25 close) at Jefferies. The firm noted that the downside thesis has largely played out and is currently reflected in the valuation now that Wesco has lost 40% since July of 2016 and underperformed the S&P by 50%.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $10.50 price target (versus a $9.02 close) at Citigroup.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $59 price target (versus a $50.98 close) at Barclays.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Ambac, Bed Bath & Beyond, General Electric, Tiffany, Trade Desk and many more.

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