Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Arista Networks, Carlyle, F5 Networks, Intuit, Salesforce, Viacom, Viking Therapeutics, Wells Fargo and More

Lee Jackson

Published: March 29, 2019 8:58 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 10:41 pm

The futures traded higher Friday morning as Wall Street awaits the highly anticipated Lyft initial public offering, and trading for the first quarter officially comes to a close today. Investors need to be considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

Additional commentary and trading data have been added on some of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, March 29, 2019.

Arista Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ANET) was started with a Neutral rating at Rosenblatt with a $330 price target. That compares to the Wall Street consensus target of $298.54. The stock closed Thursday at $312.30.

Carlyle Group L.P. (NYSE: CG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill with a $20 price target. The consensus target is $24.50. The shares were last seen on Thursday at $18.25 but traded lower in Friday’s premarket.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and the price target was raised to $163 at Piper Jaffray. The consensus target is $167.31. The shares closed Thursday at $153.71.

FTS International Inc. (NASDAQ: FTSI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with an $11.50 price target at Wells Fargo. The consensus target is $11.23, and shares ended Thursday at $10.31.

Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ: GLPG) saw its price target raised to $150 at H.C. Wainwright. The consensus target is $129.11. The stock ended Thursday’s trading at $96.13. However, shares were up almost 15% in premarket trading on positive results for the firm’s drug filgotinib for rheumatoid arthritis.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was started with an Underperform rating and a $200 price target at BNP Paribas. That compares with the consensus price objective of $242.41. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $259.22.

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (NYSE: MNR) was started with a Sector Perform rating and a $14 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus target is higher at $17.10. The shares closed Thursday at $13.36.

NeoGenomics Inc. (NASDAQ: NEO) saw its price target raised to $22 at Needham. The consensus price target is $21.63, and the stock ended Thursday at $19.57.

Oracle Inc. (NYSE: ORCL) was started with a Neutral rating at BNP Paribas. The giant software company’s shares have traded between $42.40 and $54.28 over the past year and closed Thursday at $53.19.

Regions Financial Inc. (NYSE: RF) was raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura with a $14 price target. The consensus target is set at $17.77. The stock ended trading Thursday at $14.17.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was started with an Outperform rating at BNP Paribas. The popular software company has traded in a 52-week range of $113.60 to $166.99. The consensus price target is set at $181.41. The shares ended trading Thursday at $155.18.

Science Application International Corp. (NASDAQ: SAIC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $108 price target at Vertical Research. The consensus target is much lower at $83.33. The stock closed Thursday at $73.55, and the shares were up almost 12% in the premarket after the company posted solid results yesterday.

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TG Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TGTX) was started with an Overweight rating at Cantor Fitzgerald. Shares have traded in a 52-week range of $3.32 to $16, and the consensus price objective is $15.50. The stock closed on Thursday at $7.46.

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) was raised to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital, which raised the price target to $35. The consensus target is $38, and shares closed Thursday at $32.94.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at SVB Leerink. The firm also raised its price target on the biotech company to $21. The 52-week trading range is $3.69 to $24. Shares ended trading Thursday at $8.51 but were up almost 4% in premarket action this morning.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James. The 52-week trading range is $43.02 to $59.93. Some on Wall Street feel the abrupt departure of the firm’s CEO is a positive. The stock closed Thursday at $49.09, and shares were higher in the premarket.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. The 52-week trading range for the cooler company is $12.40 to $34.43, and the consensus price target is $29.60. With shares closing at $31.89, this is possibly a valuation call.

In case you missed it, Thursday’s top analyst calls included Bunge, Cheniere Energy, FedEx, Kinder Morgan, Micron Technology, Monster Beverage, Teva Pharmaceutical, Western Digital and more.