Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Analog Devices, Blackstone, Bloom Energy, Cleveland-Cliffs, Ford, Micron, PG&E, Snap, VMWare and More

Investing

Published: October 1, 2019 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 3:12 pm

Stocks entered the first day of the fourth quarter with upside indications. This is after a volatile summer on trade war and political hot-seat issues. With the bull market now well over 10 years old, investors need to be considering what changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. 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 for Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $130 target price (versus a $111.73 prior lose) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It had a prior consensus target price of $118.05.

AnaptysBio Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAB) was reiterated as Outperform with a $146 target price (versus a $34.99 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $60 target price (versus a $48.84 close, after a 2.75% drop on the day) at Wells Fargo.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE) was maintained as Outperform but the target price was lowered to $10 from $12 at Raymond James. Shares closed down 6% at $3.25, and the prior consensus target price was $13.13.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was started as Hold with a $109 target price (versus a $91.82 close) at Stifel.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was maintained as Buy at B. Riley, but the firm lowered its target to $13 from $16 in the call. It previously closed up 1.2% at $7.22 and has a $10.47 consensus target price.

Costco Wholesale Cor. (NASDAQ: COST) was reiterated as Hold but the price target was raised to $272 from $272 at Deutsche Bank.

Fate Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE) was started as Buy with a $27 target price (versus a $15.53 close) at Stifel.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was reiterated as Neutral at Buckingham Research, but the firm lowered its target to $8 from $9. Ford closed up 0.8% at $9.16 on Monday, and its prior consensus target price was $10.73.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that after a steep decline in memory demand, the trough appears close even with tariff uncertainty. Shares most recently closed at $42.85, with a consensus price target of $54.48.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

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NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $130 target price (versus a $109.12 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The prior consensus target price was $117.29.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this company gave guidance for an earnings decline in 2020. Its shares last closed at $203.83 and have a consensus price target of $260.91.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was maintained as Equal Weight but its target price was lowered to $10 from $14 at Barclays.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $92 from $82 (versus an $85.40 close) at Oppenheimer.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was reiterated as Neutral but the price target was raised to $14 from $11 (versus a $15.80 close) at MoffettNathanson.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $180 from $140 at Wells Fargo. The stock previously closed up almost 3% to $150.06, and its prior consensus target price was $172.46. It has a 52-week trading range of $128.69 to $206.80.

Wolverine World Wide Inc. (NYSE: WWW) was reiterated as Outperform with a $35 target price (versus a $28.26 close) at Wedbush.

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Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chico’s FAS, Clorox, Deere, Gap, Newell Brands, RealReal, Teva Pharmaceutical, UnitedHealth, Wells Fargo and many more.

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