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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Baidu, Barclays, Celgene, HPE, Intel, Kimberly-Clark, Lululemon, PayPal, Stratasys and More
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Stocks have hit new highs this week and went over 23,000 for the first time. Even after a weak opening on Thursday, the market managed to come back, and shares were indicated to open higher yet again on Friday after the government’s budget passed a key hurdle. While many investors may wonder if a stock market correction is likely, the current snapshot for the market still points to over Dow 25,000 on a very informal basis right now.
The trend that has prevailed for more than five years of this eight-and-a-half-year bull market 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.
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 to avoid.
Consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has so been added on most of these daily analyst calls.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, October 20, 2017.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $305 from $232 at Jefferies. The shares were down 1.6% at $264.52 on Thursday and indicated up 1.5% at $268.43 on Friday. Baidu has a 52-week trading range of $159.54 to $274.97 and a consensus analyst target price of $244.92.
Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was raised to Hold from Sell at Berenberg. Its American depositary shares were down 0.1% at $10.14 on Thursday and were indicated up 1.2% at $10.26 on Friday morning. Its 52-week range is $8.77 to $12.05.
Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was indicated down 7.5% at $125.65 on Friday morning after closing down 0.9% on Thursday on news that it is abandoning its Crohn’s disease treatment. The stock was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $136 price target at Robert W. Baird. Jefferies maintained its Buy rating with a $160 target price. It was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $140 price target at Citigroup. Celgene has a 52-week range of $96.93 to $147.17, and it had a consensus target price of $154.38.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. HPE closed down 5.7% at $13.86 on Thursday and was indicated down 0.2% at $13.81 on Friday. Its 52-week range is $12.43 to $15.12, and it has a consensus target price of $15.50.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $46 from $41 at Stifel. This is a pre-earnings call. Intel has a 52-week range of $33.23 to $40.33 and a consensus target price of $40.80. Intel was down 0.4% on Thursday but was indicated up 0.8% at $40.40 on Friday morning.
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $100 price target (versus a $115.55 prior close) at JPMorgan. The 52-week range is $111.30 to $136.21, and the consensus target price is $126.93.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Lululemon closed up 0.6% at $60.09 on Thursday and was indicated up 2.3% at $61.50 on Friday. The shares have a 52-week range of $47.26 to $72.70 and a consensus target price of $64.10.
PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was last seen up 5% at $70.65 after beating earnings. PayPal was reiterated as Buy with an $80 price target at Jefferies. Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $78 price target. The 52-week range is $38.06 to $69.61, and the consensus analyst target is $69.80.
Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $31 price target (versus a $20.95 close) at Susquehanna. It has a 52-week range of $16.37 to $30.88 and a consensus target price of $25.79. Shares were indicated up 2.4% at $21.45 on Friday morning.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was maintained as Buy but was removed from the prized Conviction Buy List with a $58 price target (versus a $52.85 close) at Goldman Sachs.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) was started as Hold with a $56 price target (versus a $52.03 close) at Jefferies.
Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Mazor Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ: MZOR) was down 6.5% at $54.74 on Thursday and was indicated up 0.5% at $55.00 on Friday. It was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
MFA Financial Inc. (NYSE: MFA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities.
Nexstar Media Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) was started as Buy with an $80 price target (versus a $60.10 close) at Deutsche Bank.
Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.
24/7 Wall St.Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI) was started as Buy with a $46 price target (versus a $30.20 close) at Deutsche Bank.
Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was raised to Outperform with a $35 price target (versus a $24.03 close) at Wedbush. The shares closed at $24.03, but they were indicated up 26% at $30.35 after earnings blew out their estimates.
Tribune Media Co. (NYSE: TRCO) was started as Hold with a $42 price target (versus a $40.57) close at Deutsche Bank.
Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in Adobe, Allergan, American Express, Baker Hughes, Nike, Sprint, Wayfair and many more.
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