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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Arconic, Beyond Meat, Blackstone, Bloom Energy, Datadog, Delta, Netflix, Ping, Xilinx and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: October 14, 2019 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 2:40 pm

Stocks were originally indicated higher after trade talks resulted in some trade truce, but a report that China wants more talks before signing its phase one deal took the gains away on Monday morning. This is the week that the third-quarter earnings season kicks off, and this bull market is well over 10 years old. Now is a time that 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 calls 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 sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Monday, October 14, 2019.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI.

Arconic Inc. (NYSE: ARNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $31 from $26 (versus a $26.45 prior close) at Cowen.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was started as Market Perform and a $125 target price at Wells Fargo. The stock closed down 3.4% at $131.39 a share on Friday and was indicated down almost 3% more at $127.65 on Monday. The prior consensus target price was $163.67.

Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE) was started as Overweight with a $5 target price (versus a $3.17 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was started with a Sell rating and assigned a $43 target price (versus a $60.27 close) at Citigroup. Shares were down almost 2% on Friday, but the stock was indicated down 6% at $56.62 on Monday.

Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG) has seen its quiet period come to an end. Morgan Stanley started it as Equal Weight with a $39 target and Stifel started it as Buy with a $40 target. Jefferies started shares at Hold with a $34 target, while Goldman Sachs started it as Neutral with a $33 target and Barclays started it as Overweight with a $45 target. The stock closed up 0.2% at $35.67 on Friday and was indicated up 1.6% at $36.25 on Monday. Its post-IPO trading range has been $30.01 to $41.44.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the target price was cut to $57 from $75 (versus a $52.95 close) at Stephens.

Envista Holdings Corp. (NYSE: NVST) has seen its quiet period come to an end. JPMorgan started it as Overweight with a $32 price target, Credit Suisse started it as Neutral with a $30 target and Jefferies started it as Buy with a $34 target. Also, Baird started shares as Outperform with a $33 target, and Morgan Stanley started the stock as Equal Weight with a $29 target price. Envista closed down 3.9% at $27.93 on Friday and the dental products company has a post-IPO trading range of $25.65 to $29.73.

Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Medical Properties Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPW) was started with a Neutral rating at Merrill Lynch.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was maintained as Underperform with a $188 target price at Wedbush Securities. This firm has had the most negative target of all firms, and it anticipates third-quarter subscriber upside due to its content and lower domestic churn rates while likely again providing conservative guidance that is under its estimates. Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating and lowered its target to $400 from $450, and Raymond James maintained its Strong Buy rating but lowered its target to $415 from $450.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING) has seen its quiet period come to an end. Goldman Sachs and Stifel each started it with a Buy rating and $24 target. Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank each started it as Buy with a $21 price objective. Price targets of $22 accompany Citigroup’s Buy rating and Oppenheimer’s Outperform. The stock closed up over 2.3% at $16.46 on Friday, and it has a post-IPO trading range of $15.51 to $21.00.

Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) was raised to Outperform from In-Line with a $72.50 target price (versus a $58.63 close) at Imperial Capital.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) was started with an Underperform rating at Merrill Lynch.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that fast casual can be a tough space but Danny Meyer certainly seems to have it figured out. Shares of Shake Shack most recently closed at $91.62, with a consensus price target of $82.85.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was reiterated as Outperform with a $46 target price (versus a $36.56 close) at Wedbush. It was called as having sustainable global growth into the first half of 2020.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that an industrywide trend toward zero trading commissions will hurt revenues at discount brokers. Citigroup also downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and cut its target to $27 from $35. The shares last closed at $35.28, with a consensus price target of $40.47.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $115 target price (versus a $96.22 close, after a 3.6% gain) at Nomura/Instinet.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Canopy Growth, CrowdStrike, Delta Air Lines, Johnson & Johnson, Rio Tinto, Roku, Square, Tilray, Twilio and many more.