Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, Allergan, Amex, Baker Hughes, Nike, Northern Dynasty, Sprint, Wayfair and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: October 19, 2017 9:15 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:22 am

Stocks have hit new highs and the Dow Jones Industrial Average blew through 23,000 this week as easily as a knife cutting through butter. Thursday morning was indicated to be a weak open on some expected profit taking.  While many investors may wonder about a correction, the snapshot for the market’s value a year out may even have Dow 25,100 in the cards.

The trend that has prevailed for more than five years now is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every major sell-off. Those same investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

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

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

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was started as Outperform with a $190 price target (versus a $153.00 prior close) at Credit Suisse. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $190 from $180.

Allergan (NYSE: AGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $193 price target (versus a $187.15 close) at Mizuho. Allergan was maintained as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, but the firm lowered its target to $250 from $277.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) has reported earnings and reported that Ken Chennault will retire as CEO. It was reiterated as Hold but the target was raised to $93 from $85 at Jefferies. Amex was indicated down 1.9% at $90.30 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $64.75 to $93.35.

Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) was started as Neutral with a $36 price target at UBS. The stock closed at $33.80 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $32.43 to $68.59. It has a consensus analyst target price of $45.29.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $54 price target (versus a $52.30 close) at Goldman Sachs, with the firm noting that Nike is likely to be range-bound while it works through excess inventory and on expectations that it will lower expectations at its investor day later this month. Nike has a 52-week range of $49.01 to $60.53 and a consensus price target of $58.58.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSEMKT: NAK) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $2.50 price target (versus a $2.09 close) at H.C. Wainwright. Northern Dynasty is a speculative micro-cap gold and minerals company that has not been without controversy. Its 52-week range is $0.67 to $3.45, and it is very thinly covered by analysts.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie, just a day after BTIG maintained its Sell rating. Sprint closed at $7.05 on Wednesday and was indicated down 1.4% at $6.95 on Thursday. The 52-week range is $5.83 to $9.65, and the consensus price target is $7.28.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was started as Buy and was given an $85 price target (versus a $67.13 close) at MKM Partners. Wayfair’s 52-week range is $27.60 to $84.19, and it has a consensus target price of $83.58.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades from this Thursday were seen as follows:

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $65 from $58 at Jefferies. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target on Abbott to $60 from $55.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $105 from $100 (versus an $89.00 close) at Jefferies.

ANGI Homeservices Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was maintained as Hold but the price target for its American depositary shares was raised to $38.50 from $36.14 at Jefferies.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was maintained as Buy at Maxim Group, but the firm did cuts its target price to $420 from $435. This is a day after Merrill Lynch lowered its rating to Underperform with a big downside target based up excessive labor costs.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) rose sharply by 16% to $34.16 after earnings on Thursday, but a firm called Williams has downgraded its rating to Sell from Hold after that run up. Cree was down almost 2% at $33.50 on Thursday morning.

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGR) was started as Buy and assigned a $35 price target (versus an $11.65 close) at Roth Capital. Eiger was up 1.7% at $11.85 on Thursday morning, in a 52-week range of $6.10 to $14.75.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a downside price target of $3.00 (versus a $5.98 close) at Cowen.

Hain Celestial Group Inc.  (NASDAQ: HAIN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $44 price target at BMO Capital Markets.

Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) was raised to Buy from Accumulate at Johnson Rice.

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $58 from $51 (versus a $49.85 close) at Jefferies.

Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. (NASDAQ: PLYA) was reiterated as Buy with a $14 price target (versus a $10.54 close) at Janney, with the firm calling it a great stock most investors have never even heard about before.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $110 from $96 (versus a $93.43 close) at Jefferies.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $195 price target at UBS. Atlantic Equities raised its rating to Neutral from Underweight with a $215 price target.

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Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in Chevron, Chipotle, Exxon Mobil, Goldman Sachs, GoPro, IBM, Merck, Petrobras, UnitedHealth, Visa, Zynga and about two dozen more.