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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Broadcom, Deere, Generac, McDermott, NetApp, NRG, Petrobras, Teva, Tiffany and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: May 24, 2018 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 11:13 pm

Stocks were looking to open soft on Thursday despite a post-FOMC minutes recovery signaling the Federal Reserve wasn’t overly concerned about that 2% inflation threshold as an indefinite trigger. The trend of buying the dips has not worked as well as it has in prior years, and many investors have been considering how they want their investments positioned for the longer term.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary have been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, May 24, 2018.

Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $300 price target at Evercore ISI. The 52-week trading range is $221.98 to $285.68, and the consensus price target is $313.29.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. The 52-week trading range is $112.87 to $175.26, and the consensus price target is $183.75.

Ferrari N.V. (NYSE: RACE) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KPTI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $19 from $20 (versus a $19.06 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm updated its investment model for the company’s offering and for a somewhat shorter duration of therapy based on the STORM duration of response of 4.4 months.

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE: MDR) was reiterated as Neutral but the target price was raised to $25 from $21 at Credit Suisse. Shares closed down 1.6% to $21.94 on Wednesday.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $75 from $73 (versus a $66.79 close) at BMO Capital Markets. The 52-week trading range is $37.43 to $72.85, and the consensus price target is $70.30.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $37 price objective (versus a $33.15 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Oasis Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OAS) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $17 from $13 at Morgan Stanley.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform. The American depositary shares closed down 3.76% at $15.11 on Wednesday and were indicated down 10% at $13.46 after the Brazilian oil giant slashed diesel prices to ease trucker strike in Brazil.

Primo Water Corp. (NASDAQ: PRMW) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair. BMO Capital Markets maintained its Market Perform rating but the price target was raised to $16 from $15.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was up 14% at $133.33 on Wednesday after earnings. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating and raised its target to $153 from $135. Barclays left its Underweight rating in place but still raised its target to $110 from $103 after the stronger report.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was maintained as Equal Weight at Barclays, but the firm raised its target price to $20 from $13. The stock closed up 0.7% at $21.15 on Wednesday, and it has a 52-week range of $10.85 to $33.82 and a consensus target price of $19.44.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) was maintained as Outperform but the target price was raised to $142 from $120 at Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank maintained its Hold rating but lowered its target price to $90 from $94. The shares closed up 23% at $126.05 on Wednesday.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $56 from $45 (versus a $50.78 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in Celgene, Cypress Semiconductors, Intuit, KemPharm, Oasis Petroleum, Rio Tinto, Shake Shack and many more.

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