Stocks closed up big the first day of the second quarter, after the Dow Jones industrials were already up 11% and the S&P 500 was up 13% in the first quarter alone. Tuesday’s markets were far less aggressive, with very mixed indications, but the futures had recovered from their lows. 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 of the daily 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 Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $31 price target at Credit Suisse. The stock closed up 4.6% at $29.46 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $25.01 to $62.35 and with a consensus target price of $40.08.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $335 from $310 (versus a $305.79 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Broadcom’s consensus target price was $307.03, and its 52-week trading range is $197.46 to $306.75.

Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. After closing down 1.9% at $11.28 on Monday, the stock has a 52-week range of $5.91 to $18.75 and a consensus target price of $10.94.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) is now trading after the split up of DowDuPont, and it was started with a Buy rating and given a $62 price target at Deutsche Bank.

Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. After closing at $49.84 on Monday, it has a 52-week range of $37.45 to $50.85 and a consensus target price of $49.74.

Gentex Corp. (NASDAQ: GNTX) was maintained as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets, but the firm lowered its target price to $25 from $26. Shares closed up 2.1% at $21.12 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $21.13 and a 52-week trading range of $17.80 to $25.41.

Hostess Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: TWNK) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. After closing up 1.8% at $12.73 on Monday, it was indicated up another 2.9% at $13.10 on Tuesday, and it has a 52-week range of $9.86 to $14.98.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $630 price target (versus a $575.54 close) at Deutsche Bank. The consensus target price is $578.06, and the 52-week trading range is $393.57 to $581.12.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with a Sell rating at Seaport Global, with the firm noting that it is not for the idea that millennials and future generations are going to all ditch automobiles just for ride-sharing. Another firm named Cross Research, which is a new name in our research universe, reportedly has started Lyft with a Buy rating. The shares closed down 11.8% at $69.01 on Monday and were indicated down another 4% at $66.00 on Tuesday as an officially broken IPO.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was started as Neutral with a $350 price target at Rosenblatt Securities. Netflix closed up 2.9% at $366.96 on Monday, and it has a consensus target price of $382.97.

Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was started as Neutral with a $63 price target at Rosenblatt Securities. It closed up 7% at $69.11 on Monday and has a consensus target price of $67.41.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC.

Teledyne Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TDY) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $265 target price (versus a $240.21 close) at Cowen.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was started as Buy with a $150 price target at Rosenblatt Securities. After closing up 1.3% at $112.51 on Monday, it was indicated to open up 0.6% at $113.16, and the consensus target price is $126.45.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was reiterated as Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $145 from $140. Shares closed up 2.3% at $129.73, in a 52-week range of $62.54 to $130.57.

One speculative reiterated call was in shares of Entasis Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETTX) with its Outperform rating and $19 target price (versus a $6.40 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that two Phase 3 studies are on track to start in 2019 and that the clinical development for Entasis’s differentiated abx pipeline remains on track. It expects full Phase 1 data for ETX0282CPDP in mid-2019, and Phase 3 studies are set to start for ETX2514SUL in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter (Q2-2019) and zoliflodacin in uncomplicated gonorrhea (mid-2019). Entasis has only an $84 million market cap, and its 52-week trading range is $3.97 to $13.70.

One restaurant franchise firm could offer 50% upside if the most aggressive analyst covering it is proven correct.

Jefferies has its top growth picks for big upside ahead in 2019.

With tax season upon us, here are 17 investment strategies that will help to lower your taxes.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Amazon.com, CarMax, Celgene, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Lyft, FedEx, Peabody Energy, UPS, Wells Fargo and many more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.