Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Biogen, Costco, Kroger, Travelers, Wayfair and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 19, 2017 9:05 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:07 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday, with the Dow closing on our original 2017 price target. The bull market is now over eight years old. Every instance of concern, panic and market selling has managed to be bought up by investors for more than five years, and that has only proven even more true in 2017. Investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

The consensus analyst price targets are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, June 19, 2017.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $1250 price target at Wedbush Securities, with he firm noting that Whole Foods is a healthy option to accelerate growth. Amazon closed up 2.4% at $987.71 on Friday and was indicated up 0.8% at $996.00 on Monday. It has a 52-week trading range of $682.12 to $1016.50 and a consensus analyst price target of $1110.84.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $270 price target (versus a $251.74 close) at UBS. Biogen has a 52-week range of $223.02 to $333.65 and a consensus price target of $318.59.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down 7.2% at $167.11 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $142.11 to $183.18. The consensus target price is $186.49.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Argus decided to maintain its Buy rating, with the stock being oversold after guidance, but the firm lowered its target price to $30 from $40.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch. It closed at $129.44, and it has a consensus analyst target of $120.62. The 52-week range is $103.45 to $129.60.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) was raised to Buy from Hold at  Citigroup. After closing at $263.45, MercadoLibre has a 52-week range of $126.10 to $297.95, and its consensus price target is $264.84.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was downgraded to Hold from Buy (versus a $76.17 prior close) at Maxim Group. Wayfair has a 52-week range of $27.60 to $76.54 and a consensus target price of $68.81.

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You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you want the daily analyst calls and other research notes directly on your feed.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Agco Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Allscripts Healthcare Solution Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $13 price target (versus a $12.47 close) at Leerink Swann.

Appian Corp. (NASDAQ: APPN) has seen its post-IPO quiet period come to an end, and shares were indicated down 3.9% at $17.50, versus a post-IPO range of $14.60 to $20.72. The following new analyst coverage was seen: started as Outperform at Cowen, as Sector Weight at Pacific Crest, as Equal Weight at Barclays and as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $66 from $55 at Credit Suisse.

Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE: FUN) was already rated as Buy but was added to the prized Conviction Buy list, with an $81 price target (versus a $70.68 close), at Goldman Sachs.

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) was started as Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was started as Market Outperform at JMP Securities.

Impinj Inc. (NASDAQ: PI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE: IHG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, with the downgrade noting valuation concerns.

Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE: JCI) was started as Market Outperform at JMP Securities.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $169 from $175 (versus a $144.07 close) at Jefferies. The firm lowered estimates to reflect a slower pace of loan growth.

SMART Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SGH) was started as Buy with a $21 price target (versus a $15.30 close) at Jefferies. The firm sees the company benefiting from widening memory demand, rising average memory content and greater customization demand.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE: AMTD) was maintained as Hold but the price target was raised to $43 from $40 (versus a $40.67 close) at Jefferies.

Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE: TRI) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price target was cut to $34 from $40 (versus a $37.91 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm feels there is still room to fall based on deteriorating earnings profile. The 52-week range is $36.85 to $71.69.

WideOpenWest Inc. (NYSE: WOW) closed at $17.59 on Friday and its post-IPO range has been $15.44 to $18.83 before the quiet period ended. Now analysts are covering it with new ratings: Started as Strong Buy at Raymond James, as Outperform at Evercore ISI, as Buy at UBS, as Outperform at Credit Suisse, as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Details were not seen early on Monday, but Longbow Research raised three steel companies to Buy from Neutral: Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), and AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS).