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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Advance Auto Parts, Cardinal Health, Dick's, Home Depot, Lam Research, Snap, Walmart and More
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Stocks have finally shown that they can sell off again, and the Dow was indicated down another 100 points and the S&P 500 down another 11 points on Wednesday. While some of this is around skepticism about tax reform, the reality is that the market simply needs a breather after strong earnings and strong year-to-date gains. Investors should also consider that the trend that has continued to prevail is that investors have bought every major sell-off for more than five years now. Investors are also looking 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. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports and research notes cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, November 15, 2017.
Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) shares rose by 16% to $95.72 on Tuesday. It was maintained as Buy with a $130 price target at Jefferies, but the firm lowered quarterly estimates and 2018 estimates. Deutsche Bank also raised its target price to $107 from $101, and JPMorgan raised its price target to $110 from $106. Buckingham Research lowered its price target to $25 from $26. Advance Auto Parts has a 52-week trading range of $78.81 to $177.83.
Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the firm noting its results being hurt by generic price deflation. The stock has a 52-week range of $56.69 to $84.88 and a consensus price target of $70.80.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) down 2.8% at $25.59 on Tuesday and was indicated up 2% at $26.10 on Wednesday. It was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Meanwhile, multiple analysts trimmed their target prices: MKM Partners to $25 from $30, RBC to $24 from $26, Deutsche Bank to $24 from $28 and Credit Suisse to $24 from $28.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was up 1.4% at $168.06 on Tuesday after earnings. Argus reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $190 from $180. Home Depot has a 52-week range of $123.28 to $168.14 and a consensus price target of $174.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was last seen up 1.5% at $211.70 after announcing a $2 billion buyback (versus a $33.8 billion market cap) and hiking its dividend. Deutsche Bank raised its target to $230 from $220 and RBC Capital Markets raised its target to $225 from $210.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was up 1.37% at $12.57 on Tuesday but was indicated down almost 1.4% at $12.40 on Wednesday after the social media company (not a camera company) was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities. The 52-week range is $11.28 to $29.44, and the consensus price target is $12.74.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $100 from $90 (versus a $91.09 prior close) at Oppenheimer. Walmart has a 52-week range of $65.28 to $91.98 and a consensus analyst target of $88.77.
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Other key analyst calls from Wednesday are shown below.
Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) saw an unusual upgrade on Wednesday morning as Raymond James raised its rating to Strong Buy from Outperform while lowering the price target to $80 from $85 in the same call. Shares closed down four cents at $61.68 on Tuesday and were indicated down 45 cents at $61.24 on Wednesday. The consensus target price is $83.71.
AnaptysBio Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAB) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $115 price target (versus a $71.08 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO) was down 4.9% at $9.70 on Tuesday. The operator of McDonald’s through Latin America was started as Buy with a $12 price target at HSBC.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was up 2.5% at $20.22 on Tuesday. KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained its Underweight rating and lowered its target price down to $17 from $21.
Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Bioverativ Inc. (NASDAQ: BIVV) was reiterated as Buy and with a $64 price target (versus a $54.39 close) at Argus.
CVR Refining L.P. (NYSE: CVRR) was down 2.1% at $11.65 on Wednesday morning after UBS downgraded its rating to Sell from Neutral. Its 52-week range is $6.70 to $13.21.
Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was up 1.2% at $30.00 on Tuesday but was indicated back down 1.5% at $29.55 on Wednesday on analyst calls ahead of earnings. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating but lowered its target to $39 from 445. Canaccord Genuity has a Buy rating but lowered its target to $36 from $39.
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KPTI) was assumed with a Buy rating with a $23 target price (versus a $10.54 close) at H.C. Wainwright. This was down 1.6% on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $7.48 to $14.63.
M/A-Com Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MTSI) was maintained as Hold but the target price was cut to $35 from $43 at Stifel. Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Underperform from Neutral and lowered its price objective to $30 from $45 and said that demand uncertainty could persist.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, but the price target was raised to $65 from $63.
Neovasc Inc. (NASDAQ: NVCN) was down 17% at $0.84 on Tuesday. Leerink Swann lowered its price target to $5 from $10.
Platform Specialty Products Corp. (NYSE: PAH) was reinstated as Neutral with a $12 target price at Credit Suisse.
Smart Sand Inc. (NASDAQ: SND) was downgraded to Hold from Buy but the price target was raised to $9 from $7 (versus an $8.42 close) at Jefferies.
Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) was down 7% at $2.30 on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity lowered its target price to $5 from $6, while the firm Craig-Hallum lowered its target price to $3.50 from $4.00.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, with the firm noting its strong outlook and broader protein sales.
Tesaro Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $121 price target (versus an $86.73 close) at Leerink Swann.
Urogen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: URGN) was down 2.5% at $42.18 on Tuesday, and it had earnings on Tuesday as well. Raymond James downgraded it to Market Perform from Outperform, and Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and raised its target to $51 from $32.
YY Inc. (NASDAQ: YY) was down 1.5% at $89.23 on Tuesday, and after earnings it was indicated up 1.2% at $90.30 on Wednesday. Benchmark Securities has a Buy rating and raised its target price to $127. Jefferies raised its rating to Buy from Hold and the target price was raised to $110 from $79. The 52-week range is $37.81 to $97.59.
Warren Buffett has released a big list of changes to the public equity holdings of Berkshire Hathaway.
Tuesday’s top analyst calls were seen in Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, General Electric, JD.com, Peabody Energy, Qualcomm, WisdomTree Investments and many more.
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