Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allscripts, AmeriGas, CVS, IMAX, Kraft Heinz, Marathon Oil, Microsoft, Pfizer and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: February 25, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:19 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher by over 100 more points on the Dow Jones industrial average and 13 points on the S&P 500 on additional China-trade developments as tariff deadlines were extended as talks are proceeding positively. Now that the Dow has risen over 3,000 points from its lows of early January, investors need to be considering how they want their assets positioned for 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen for Monday, February 25, 2019.

Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform but the price target was raised to $96 from $94 at Imperial Capital.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was lowered to $12 from $14 (versus a $10.60 prior close, after an 11.2% drop) at Citigroup.

AmeriGas Partners L.P. (NYSE: APU) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $31 from $24 (versus a $29.60 close) at UBS. It has a 12% yield-equivalent distribution.

Antares Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRS) was started as Outperform and assigned a $7 price target (versus a $3.28 close) at Cowen. The stock was indicated up 2.5% at $3.30, in a 52-week range of $1.99 to $3.99 and with a $507 million market cap.

Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) was started as Neutral at Buckingham Research.

BMC Stock Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BMCH) was started as Neutral at Buckingham Research.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) was started as Neutral at Buckingham Research.

Capstead Mortgage Corp. (NYSE: CMO) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform and the target price was raised to $8.50 from $7.00 (versus an $8.23 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Cboe Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at MKM Partners.

CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the independent research firm lowered its target price to $80 from $100. Shares closed at $61.95 ahead of the call, but Argus sees the challenging industry dynamics reinforcing its belief that CVS is better positioned with Aetna than without it.

CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was lowered to $52 from $68 (versus a $52.87 close) at Credit Suisse.

Diplomat Pharmacy Inc. (NASDAQ: DPLO) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $9 at JPMorgan. Shares were down 56% at $5.87 on Friday on news that it was withdrawing its 2019 outlook and delaying its 2018 annual report after earnings.

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $68 price objective (versus a $70.30 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $70 from $63 at Credit Suisse. Wedbush also reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $67 from $63 with above-consensus FY19 estimates heading into results on March 1. The stock was indicated up 2.2% at $61.00 on Monday.

IMAX Corp. (NASDAQ: IMAX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $23 price target (versus a $21.38 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was gutted on Friday after the food giant disclosed an SEC probe, acquisition cost writedowns and a dividend cut. Many analysts already downgraded Kraft, and on Monday Bernstein cut it to Market Perform from Outperform.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $22 from $25 (versus a $16.89 close) at Argus. The independent research firm sees Marathon with a positive view of its focus on short-cycle unconventional North American oil, natural gas and NGL production and noted that it has divested $4 billion of noncore assets over the past two years.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was already rated as Outperform with a $140 price target at Wedbush, but the firm added the stock to its Best Ideas List as the firm thinks that its Azure platform, Office 365 and enhanced AI capabilities, along with a major partner and sales force push, is a unique value proposition that puts Microsoft in a differentiated position to drive cloud sales for 2019 and beyond and help shape the future growth trajectory. This means that Microsoft would go over the $1 trillion dollar market cap during 2019. The stock closed up 1.4% at $110.97 a share on Friday, and its 52-week range is $87.08 to $116.18.

New Fortress Energy LLC (NYSE: NFE) has received multiple analyst calls as its quiet period ended. Shares closed at $14.00 on Friday, with a 2019 range of $12.90 to $14.26. Morgan Stanley started it as Overweight with a $19 target, and Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $16 price target. JMP started New Fortress Energy as Market Outperform and assigned an $18 price target, and Stifle has a Buy rating and $27 target.

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Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was started as Neutral and assigned a $45 price target (versus a $42.96 close) at UBS. It has a 52-week range of $34.32 to $46.47 and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $48 price target (versus a $44.37 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Spark Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) is being acquired by Roche, and its shares rallied 120% to $113.00 after the news. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Spark Therapeutics to Neutral but raised the price target to $114 from $80.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $70 price target (versus a $72.40 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Vereit Inc. (NYSE: VER) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. Trading at $8.11, it has a consensus target of $8.39 and a 52-week trading range of $6.52 to $8.38.

Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at H.C. Wainwright.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Biogen, Broadcom, Citigroup, Equifax, Fitbit, Intel, Kraft Heinz, Merck, Roku, Under Armour, United Technologies, Zillow and many more.