Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Shopify, Qualcomm, Pinterest, Sprouts, BlackLine, Fortinet, Carbon Black and More

Investing

Published: August 2, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 5:48 pm

The stock market was doing well on Thursday following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s decision to cut interest rates. However, this was short-lived as President Trump sent the markets tumbling after he tweeted that China would face even more tariffs going forward. We saw what happened back in May when the president tweeted something similar, although this time the rate hike might stem the bleeding.

Earnings season has proven to be quite mixed and has created some very big wins or bad misses on individual stock prices. Markets were holding near all-time highs prior to the China tweet, but this serves to give investors another reason to be cautious.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is 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 Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, August 2, 2019.

Abiomed Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD) was downgraded to an Equal Weight rating with a $215 price target by Morgan Stanley. Shares closed most recently at $204.87, in a 52-week range of $197.81 to $459.75. The consensus price target is $301.25.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: ADAP) was downgraded by Guggenheim to a Neutral rating. Shares closed at $2.95, in a 52-week range of $2.85 to $14.54. The consensus price target is $7.08.

Antero Midstream Corp. (NYSE: AM) was downgraded to a Neutral rating with a $13 price target at Stifel. Shares closed at $8.43, in a 52-week range of $8.20 to $19.61. The consensus price target is $15.46.

BlackLine Inc. (NASDAQ: BL) was maintained with an Overweight rating and a $62 price target at KeyBanc. Shares closed at $42.54, in a 52-week range of $34.01 to $58.11. The consensus price target is $52.33.

Carbon Black Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLK) was maintained with an Overweight rating and a $23 price target at KeyBanc. Shares closed at $18.25, in a 52-week range of $11.80 to $27.27. The consensus price target is $19.60.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was downgraded to a Neutral rating at Guggenheim. Shares closed at $8.87, in a 52-week range of $8.77 to $41.75. The consensus price target is $27.50.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy. Shares closed at $79.02, in a 52-week range of $64.41 to $96.96. The consensus price target is $91.35.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) was upgraded to a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed at $85.06, in a 52-week range of $60.16 to $87.99. The consensus price target is $97.45.

Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM) was upgraded to Neutral with a $29 price target by Baird. Shares closed at $30.83. The 52-week range is $28.62 to $35.97, and the consensus price target is $35.00.

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NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was downgraded by Piper Jaffray to a Neutral rating with a $48 price target. Shares closed at $57.71, in a 52-week range of $54.50 to $88.08. The consensus price target is $68.65.

Owens-Illinois Inc. (NYSE: OI) was maintained as Neutral by KeyBanc. Shares closed at $12.86, in a 52-week range of $12.82 to $20.78. The consensus price target is $20.38.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was upgraded to a Buy rating with a $40 price target by Deutsche Bank. Shares closed at $28.30, in a 52-week range of $23.05 to $35.29. The consensus price target is $28.29.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was downgraded by DZ Bank to a Sell rating. Shares of Qualcomm closed at $71.20, in a 52-week range of $49.10 to $90.34. The consensus price target is $81.03.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was downgraded by CIBC to Neutral. Shares closed at $118.65, in a 52-week range of $70.16 to $121.06. The consensus price target is $105.46.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) was downgraded to an Underperform rating by JPMorgan. BMO Capital Markets downgraded it to an Underperform rating as well. Shares closed at $18.17, in a 52-week range of $16.46 to $29.67. The consensus price target is $20.80.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was maintained with an Overweight rating and a $385 price target by KeyBanc. Shares closed at $341.39, in a 52-week range of $117.64 to $350.79. The consensus price target is $354.04.

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Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL) was upgraded to a Neutral rating with a $44 price target by Baird. Shares closed at $44.51, in a 52-week range of $34.36 to $65.81. The consensus price target is $54.67.

SVMK Inc. (NASDAQ: SVMK) was upgraded to Buy with a $24 price target by UBS. The shares closed at $16.51, in a 52-week range of $10.05 to $20.00. The consensus price target is $19.86.

Universal Logistics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ULH) was upgraded by Stifel to a Buy rating with a $30 price target. Shares closed at $19.83, in a 52-week range of $17.40 to $37.67. The consensus analyst target is $28.67.

Zacks has named Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) as its Bull of the Day, saying that this firm has seen rising levels in profitability through savvy acquisitions and strong earnings results. The Bear of the Day is Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG). Zacks noted that the motorcycle firm posted its worst second-quarter sales figures since 2011.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Allstate, Corning, DexCom, Lam Research, On Deck, Qualcomm, Spotify, Western Digital, Whiting Petroleum and more.

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