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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Axovant, Carnival, Micron, Nike, SunPower, Vivint Solar, Walgreens and More
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Stocks have sold off in recent days, with a four-day losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Averages. Wednesday was showing some strength after the president’s tax plan is being shown on Wednesday. It is important to keep in mind that the Dow is still only about 100 points under last week’s all-time high. The trend that has dominated this eight-year bull market is that investors keep finding various new reasons to buy stocks after every market sell-off. Those same investors also are looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on some of these daily analyst calls. The 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 Wednesday, September 27, 2017.
Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: AXON) was destroyed on Tuesday with a 74% drop to $6.33 after its Alzheimer’s disease study failed. Jefferies still has a Buy rating, but the price target was slashed to $12 from $40, so that rating seems odd. Its shares were indicated up 5% at $6.65 on Wednesday, and its new 52-week trading range is $6.13 to $27.98.
Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) was maintained as Buy at Argus with a $78 price target. Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating and trimmed estimates. Wedbush Securities maintained its Neutral rating and $67 target. Carnival shares were up 2.9% at $65.32 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $45.92 to $69.89.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was down 2% at $34.18 ahead of earnings, but its shares were last seen up 5% at $35.90 after it beat earnings and signaled strong demand ahead. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $50 from $40. Loop Capital reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $48 from $46. Deutsche Bank raised its target to $43 from $42, Morgan Stanley raised its target to $39 from $36 and Susquehanna raised its target to $54 from $50. The 52-week range is $16.17 to $36.60, and the consensus analyst price target is $44.69.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) closed at $53.70 ahead of earnings and its shares were indicated down 2.8% at $52.20 on Wednesday, with some of the earnings beat based on cost cutting and on low expectations. Jefferies maintained a Hold rating and lowered its target to $48 from $49 due to market share loss and wholesale exposure acting as drags. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating and $52 price target. Canaccord Genuity lowered its target to $50 from $51, and Cowen cut its target to $50 from $53. Nike has a 52-week range of $49.01 to $60.53 and a consensus price target of $60.40.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $6 price target (versus a $7.22 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. The 52-week range is $5.84 to $11.70, and the consensus price target is $9.31.
Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $5 price target (versus a $3.25 close) at Guggenheim. Vivint Solar has a 52-week range of $2.50 to $6.09 and a consensus price target of $5.25.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. After closing at $79.08, Walgreens has a 52-week range of $75.18 to $89.69 and a consensus analyst target of $93.09.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:
Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AJRD) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $40 from $30 (versus a $35.00 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $130 from $102 (versus a $112.06 close) at Jefferies. The call outlines expectations following positive top-line Phase 3 APOLLO patisiran data.
Calyxt Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $27 price target (versus a $26.47 close) at Citigroup.
Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) was raised to Buy with a $32 fair value (versus a $26.36 close) at Janney. The firm feels that its improving outlook is not full reflected in the stock.
Coherus BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRS) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $17 from $24, with the firm updating its investment model for new Humira timelines.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird, and Maxim Group raised its rating to Buy from Hold with a $93 price target.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.
24/7 Wall St.Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) was started as Buy with a $39 price target at Citigroup.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) was raised to Buy with a $40 fair value estimate (versus a $35.51 close) at Janney.
Savara Inc. (NASDAQ: SVRA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $40 target price (versus $9.24 close) at Roth Capital. Its prior consensus analyst target price (from just three analysts) was about $19.
SBA Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: SBAC) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $170 price target (versus a $142.41 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Trivago N.V. (NASDAQ: TRVG) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $14 price target (versus an $11.21 close) at JPMorgan.
Merrill Lynch has identified four down and out technology stocks that may have massive upside if even a hint of good news comes their way.
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Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, Apple, Discovery, DowDuPont, JPMorgan, Red Hat, T-Mobile and over a dozen more.
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