Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amex, Chipotle, CyberArk, Facebook, Lululemon, Microsoft, Nokia, Sirius, Tesla, Wynn and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 25, 2019 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 9:36 pm

Stocks were indicated to have a mixed open because 3M is dragging the Dow Jones industrials down so much on disappointing numbers. Still, the S&P is very close to all-time highs and the Nasdaq hit all-time highs. With strong double-digit gains already seen so far in 2019, investors need to 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. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but others 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 mentioned 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 Thursday, April 25, 2019.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Its shares previously closed up five cents at $114.02, and its consensus target price was $119.05.

Aspen Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and was given a $131 price target (versus a $114.51 prior close) at Wedbush Securities, with the firm talking about its fundamentals accelerating and with customer attrition declining.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was trading up 1% at $709.75 ahead of earnings and was indicated up about 1% afterward. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating but raised the price target to $700 from $680, while KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated the stock as Overweight and raised the price target to $780 from $625.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but the price target was raised to $132 from $119 (versus a $125.63 close) at UBS. Its consensus target price was $122.35.

DXP Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: DXPE) was started with a Hold rating at Jefferies.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was indicated up over 8% at $198.00 on Thursday morning after earnings. While multiple analysts raised their target prices, UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $240 price target (versus a $199.10 close). KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $220 from $195. The 52-week trading range is $123.02 to $218.62, and the consensus target price is $197.14.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with a $200 price target (versus a $180.73 close) close) at JPMorgan.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was reiterated as Buy at Canaccord Genuity, with a price target hike to $191 from $186. Lululemon has a consensus target price of $174.54, and it previously closed up 0.8% at $178.27.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was last seen trading up about 5% at $131.20 for a new all-time high after earnings. Wedbush reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $155 from $150. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $143 from $141. Microsoft is set to challenge the $1 trillion market cap after this gain.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) American depositary shares were last seen trading down 8% at $5.32 after earnings were reported. UBS has a flash note indicating that its results were already expected to be weak, but not this weak.

PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Replimune Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REPL) was started with an Outperform and assigned a $24 price target (versus a $14.46 close) at Wedbush, and the firm also added it to its Best Ideas List. Wedbush sees its intratumorally delivered oncolytic virus platform to further extend utility into less immunogenic cancers, with a high likelihood of success for lead asset RP1 and a potentially rapid path to approval in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was down 7.1% at $5.71 after earnings on Wednesday. It was indicated up 1% at $5.77 after Pivotal Research raised it to Buy from Hold. Sirius had a consensus target price of $6.88. There are three rightful concerns investors have here which are not historical events but may be secular issues rather than short-term.

Teradyne Corp. (NYSE: TER) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $55 price target (versus a $47.98 close) at Robert W. Baird.

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Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was last seen down about 1% at $256.00 after earnings were deemed soft. Wedbush downgraded Tesla to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the price target to $275 from $365, reversing a long-term bullish position that was in place.

Valmont Industries Inc. (NYSE: VMI) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $153 price target (versus a $132.84 close) at Stifel.

Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $105 price target (versus an $89.25 close) at Stifel.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $165 price objective (versus a $147.38 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was up almost 2% at $139.72 ahead of earnings, but the shares fell over 10% and were indicated down at $125.50 afterward. Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy with a $122 price target.

Merrill Lynch has a favorable view on the mega-cap energy stocks with oil ticking back up toward $70 per barrel.

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The top biotech stocks are signaling a sector that is in trouble, or it may now just be a solid bargain after parsing out the data via ETF exposure in biotech.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Best Buy, Eli Lilly, Hilton, Hyatt, Kraft Heinz, Procter & Gamble, Snap and many more.