Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Disney, Gilead, Nordstrom, Novartis, Tesla, Under Armour, Wendy's and More

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Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher in the United States after the European Central Bank kept interest rates steady and forecast that rates would be on hold through at least the end of 2019. The major market indexes are still up in the double-digit percentages year to date, and the S&P 500 is still within striking distance of all-time highs. Investors should be considering how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or 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 Wednesday, April 10, 2019.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold while its price target was raised to $180 from $160 at HSBC. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating on Apple and raised its price target to $220 from $210. Shares closed down 0.3% at $199.50, in a 52-week range of $142.00 to $233.47. The consensus target price is $190.94.

Community Healthcare Trust Inc. (NYSE: CHCT) was started as Outperform and assigned a $40 target price (versus a $35.05 prior close) at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed down 0.4% at $35.05, in a 52-week range of $24.54 to $37.14 and with a consensus target price of $35.42.

Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was already rated as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm added the stock to its Conviction Buy List with a $75 price target. Shares closed at $57.86 and have a consensus target price of $64.31. After closing down 1.6% on Tuesday, the stock was indicated up about 4% at $58.50 on Wednesday.

FlexShopper Inc. (NASDAQ: FPAY), a tiny microcap online lease-to-own retailer with a $15 million market cap, was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $3 price target (versus a $0.84 close) at a firm called Ascendiant Capital. Shares have traded in a 52-week range of $0.66 to $4.80.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. Shares closed down 3.5% at $61.11. The 52-week range is $40.02 to $68.00, and the consensus target price is $70.26.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $77 from $75 at UBS. Shares closed down 1.9% at $66.09, in a 52-week range of $60.32 to $79.61. The consensus target price is $80.64.

NetScout Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Shares closed down 1.8% at $27.85. The 52-week range is $21.58 to $31.78, and the consensus target price is $28.25.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Shares closed down 2.0% to $44.17. The consensus target price is $50.40, and the 52-week trading range is $42.54 to $67.75.

Novartis A.G. (NYSE: NVS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, a day after its shares fell 12.1% to $83.41, and the stock were indicated down 1% more at $82.50 on Wednesday.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $15.50 price target (versus a $13.48 close) at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed up 0.4% at $13.48, in a 52-week range of $12.12 to $18.75 and with a consensus target price of $17.85.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) was reiterated as Outperform with an $84 price target (versus a $66.86 close) at Wedbush Securities.

TerraForm Power Inc. (NASDAQ: TERP) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $300 price target at Nomura Instinet. Shares closed down 0.3% at $272.31. They have a 52-week range of $247.77 to $387.46 and a consensus target price of $314.05.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Shares closed down 4.7% at $20.72, in a 52-week range of $15.91 to $24.96. The consensus target price is $20.96.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $140 from $114 at BMO Capital Markets. Shares closed up 1.7% at $116.86, in a 52-week range of $97.68 to $120.20 and with a consensus target price of $128.23.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was started as Outperform at Cowen. Shares closed down 0.2% to $17.99. The 52-week range is $14.96 to $18.68. The consensus target price is $19.06.

Pinterest hasn’t even started trading yet, but Atlantic Equities initiated it with an Outperform rating.

Here are seven mid-cap and large-cap real estate investment trusts that outyield the 10-year Treasury (most outyield the 30-year too) that have a penchant for dividend hikes and still have upside to their consensus price targets.

Jefferies has four top growth stocks to buy that all have large upcoming catalysts.

The IMF has downgraded global growth in 2019 but sees a recovery later in the year and in 2020.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Anadarko Petroleum, Apple, Charter Communications, Geron, KLA-Tencor, PVH, SAP, United States Steel, Walt Disney and many more.

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