Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Blue Apron, Boston Beer, Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, Xerox and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: July 24, 2017 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:10 am

Stocks were indicated to open slightly lower on Monday, but the indexes remain close to all-time highs. This bull market may now be well over eight years old, but investors have proven over and over that they can find numerous different reasons to buy stocks after every single market sell-off. Those same investors are also searching for new investing and trading ideas.

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

Additional color and commentary also has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, July 24, 2017.

Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) has seen its post-IPO quiet period come to an end. The stock closed at $6.55 on Friday, versus an $11 IPO price, and shares were indicated up 6% at $6.97 on Monday. Blue Apron was started as Outperform with an $11 target at Oppenheimer, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey started it as Buy with a $12 price target. Goldman Sachs started Blue Apron as Buy with an $11 price target, and Stifel started it with a Buy rating and gave a $10 target. Needham assigned a Buy rating and $10 target. Barclays and Morgan Stanley were cautious with new Equal Weight ratings. Barclays has a $7 target and Morgan Stanley has a $7.50 target for Blue Apron.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $110 from $140 (versus a $137.30 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. The shares have a 52-week range of $128.70 to $194.98 and a consensus analyst price target of $142.75. They were indicated to open down about 1.8% at $134.80 on Monday.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $125 price target (versus a $106.58 close) at BMO Capital Markets. It has a 52-week range of $78.34 to $110.00 and a consensus price target of $106.61. Caterpillar shares were indicated to open up about 0.8% at $107.50 on Monday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $230 price target (versus a $220.19 close) at UBS. The stock has a 52-week range of $155.37 to $255.15 and a consensus price target of $238.08. Shares were indicated to open down about 0.5% at $219.10 on Monday.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $155 from $148 (versus a $136.35 close) at Oppenheimer. Honeywell’s consensus target price is $140.67 and its 52-week range is $140.67.

Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays. Shares closed at $29.45 and were indicated to open at $29.55 on Monday. Xerox has an adjusted 52-week range of $22.90 to $30.76 and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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 as follows:

Aileron Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRN) was started as Buy with a $20 price target at Jefferies, with the firm calling it an early-stage cancer story with favorable risk/reward metrics. Aileron Therapeutics was started as Buy with a $19 target price at Merrill Lynch.

Aon PLC (NYSE: AON) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $162 from $146 at Jefferies.

AzurRx BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: AZRX) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $8 price target (versus a $3.70 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V. (NYSE: CBI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $28 price target at Credit Suisse.

Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) was started with a Buy rating and given a $20 target price (versus a $14.02 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Dova Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: DOVA) was started as Buy with a $30 price target (versus a $22.75 close) at Jefferies.

Floor & Decor Holdings Inc. (NYSE: FND) was started as Outperform with a $45 price target (versus a $37.40 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $50 target price (versus a $46.67 close) at Wells Fargo.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $34 target price (versus a $26.72 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Mersana Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN) was started as Outperform with a $25 target price (versus a $14.05 close) at Wedbush. Leerink started Mersana with an Outperform rating and gave a $23 target price.

Michaels Companies Inc. (NYSE: MIK) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

NeoPhotonics Corp. (NYSE: NPTN) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $160 price target (versus a $144.37 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCLH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $65 price target (versus a $55.07 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) was started as Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $80 from $92 at Jefferies.

Triumph Group Inc. (NYSE: TGI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $37 target price (versus a $34.20 close) at Jefferies.