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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Analog Devices, Autodesk, Best Buy, Schwab, Dell, Dollar Tree, HP, Occidental Petroleum, Under Armour and More
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Stocks have retested all-time highs and were indicated to have a marginally higher open on Wednesday ahead of a shortened week for the Thanksgiving break. The S&P 500 was last seen up over 25% and the Dow was last seen up over 20% on a total return basis for 2019, but there are many well-known stocks up 150% to 450% year-to-date. Investors are starting to see upside targets being issued for 2020 but there still many pressing issues and risks to consider now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider 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. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some analyst calls cover stocks to sell or stocks 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 mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Wednesday, November 27, 2019.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) was started with a Buy rating at HSBC. Alibaba’s ADSs closed up2.2% at $194.70 on Tuesday and the shares were indicated up 1.5% at $197.70 ahead of Wednesday’s open.
Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was up 1.7% at $114.89 ahead of earnings and was indicated up almost 1% more at $115.75 after earnings. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $130 from $120. BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $135 from $122; and Nomura/Instinet maintained its Neutral rating but still raised its target up to $100 from $90 in that call.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was reiterated as Neutral with a $171 price target (versus $170.80 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal Weight rating and raised its target to $164 from $150 in that call. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $189 from $175.
Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. That’s a day after a 9.6% drop to $30.15 in the post-earnings reaction.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was up almost 10% at $81.57 after earnings on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal Weight rating but raised its target price up to $77 from $70 in that call. Best Buy’s consensus analyst target price was $83.28 ahead of the calls. Barclays reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $90 from $75, and Piper Jaffray reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $97 from $86. Guggenheim reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $90 from $80 in that call. RBC Capital Markets maintained its Sector Perform rating but raised its target to $86 from $74.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and its target price was raised to $49 from $35 at Barclays. The firm also raised its rating on merger target TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) to Equal Weight from Underweight in the post-merger announcement trading.
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was down 3.4% at $53.19 on Tuesday ahead of earnings, but the post-earnings reaction was down 4.5% more at $50.75 as lower supplies of Intel processors were said to have helped crimp revenues. Dell was reiterated as Equal Weight and the p[rice target was cut to $66 from $67 at Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank maintained its Buy rating but trimmed its target down to $60 from $62. Nomura/Instinet maintained its Neutral rating and cut its target on Dell down to $56 from $60.
DICK’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was up 18.6% at $46.77 after earnings on Tuesday. RBC Capital Markets maintained its Sector Perform rating but raised its target price up to $47 from $40. Barclay’s raised its rating to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its target to $56 from $45.
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was down 15.2% at $95.26 on Tuesday’s bad post-earnings reaction. Dollar tree was reiterated as Hold and its target price was cut down to $96 from $106 at Deutsche Bank. JPMorgan downgraded Dollar Tree to Neutral from Overweight and slashed its target down to $96 from $125. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal Weight rating and lowered its target price down to $95 from $100 in that call. BMO Capital maintained its Market Perform rating but cut its target to $98 from $102, while RBC Capital Markets maintained its Outperform rating while cutting its target price down to $106 from $127.
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) was down 0.45% at $20.06 ahead of earnings and the post-earnings reaction had shares up almost 2% at $20.45 on additional hopes of a Xerox merger. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal Weight rating and raised its target to $21 from $20 in that call.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that a controversial acquisition and huge debt have one big investor reconsidering his stake in Occidental. Shares of Occidental last closed at $38.57 with a consensus analyst price target of $51.09.
Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this automobile design and manufacturing firm has been growing earnings. Shares of Spartan Motors most recently closed at $17.71 with a consensus analyst price target of $21.33.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was up 3.6% at $17.99 on Tuesday. Raymond James has raised its rating to Strong Buy from Outperform with a %40 target price. Under Armour was indicated up another 3% at $18.55 on Wednesday.
VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was reiterated as Outperform with a $210 price target (versus $164.90 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. Stifel reiterated its Hold rating but raised its target to $178 from $150 in its call. VMware closed down 2.2% on Tuesday but was indicated up 2.3% at $168.77 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst target price of $173.77.
Top strategists are out with 2020 views and predictions. Goldman Sachs sees low recession risks and strong gains from stocks, while Societe Generale sees a mild recession starting in 2020.
Nomura/Instinet has identified 6 top technology picks for tech spending trends in 2020.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in shares of Agilent, Ambarella, Barclays, Bluebird Bio, Chipotle, Honeywell, McDonald’s Nutanix, NVIDIA, PagSeguro and many more. Monday’s top analyst calls were in Deere, Energizer, First Energy, Foot Locker, Lam Research, Lululemon, Netflix, NVIDIA, PG&E, Williams Companies and many more.
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