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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Aurora Cannabis, Biogen, Micron, Nio, Nvidia, Palo Alto, Tandem Diabetes, Tesla and More
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On Monday, stocks experienced their worst trading day in two years as the coronavirus is spreading outside of China. The indexes were indicated to open higher Tuesday by about 13 S&P 500 points and 100 Dow Jones industrials points, but the futures were indicated higher last night. Despite this being an election year and despite the global economy being affected by the coronavirus, many investors have yet to make any major changes to their holdings after the incredible gains from 2019.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many 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 from Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
AON PLC (NYSE: AON) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $265 target price (versus a $223.30 prior close) at Wells Fargo. It had a $230.69 consensus target price.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) was down over 7% to $1.55 on Monday. Needham started the stock with a Hold rating and a $1.50 target price.
Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was reiterated as Neutral but its target price was raised to $316 from $300 (versus a $325.98 close, after a 3.2% drop) at Mizuho. The stock was indicated up 0.6% at $328.00 a share on Tuesday, and it had a $331.26 consensus target price.
Black Stone Minerals L.P. (NYSE: BSM) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets. Its units were down 1.5% at $9.97 on Monday, but they were trading down 9% at $9.05 on Tuesday after earnings and 2020 guidance.
CNA Financial Corp. (NYSE: CNA) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that earnings estimates are moving higher for this insurance agent. Shares most recently closed at $46.64, with a consensus price target of $53.50.
Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was lowered to $50 from $65 (versus a $55.05 close, after a 3.8% drop) at Mizuho.
Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) closed up 9.5% at $10.88 on Monday and was indicated down 2.5% at $10.60 on Tuesday. CIBC World Markets raised it to Outperform from Neutral with a $13 target.
EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was down almost 2% at $45.74 on Monday, and it was indicated down about 11.5% at $40.45 after reporting a loss despite beating revenue expectations. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $49 from $30. Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target from $35 to $50.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its target price was raised to $28 from $25 (versus a $24.19 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that there may not be a glimmer of hope for fertilizers in 2020. Shares last closed at $19.41 and have a consensus price target of $25.80.
MPLX L.P. (NYSE: MPLX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Nio Ltd. (NYSE: NIO) closed down 4.9% at $3.88 on Monday but was trading up over 30% at $5.10 on Tuesday morning after entering into a framework with a Chinese province about manufacturing. Bernstein raised it to Market Perform from Underperform, and Merrill Lynch reiterated its Neutral rating.
Novartis A.G. (NYSE: NVS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral and its target price was lowered to $230 from $235 at Nomura/Instinet. Shares closed down 7% at $273.28 on Monday, with a $301.15 consensus target price.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was down 2.3% at $237.33 on Monday but its shares were last seen trading down about 15.5% at $200.60 after its guidance was short of expectations. Mizuho maintained its Buy rating but lowered the price target to $245 from $265. Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating but trimmed its target price to $240 from $275. RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform and lowered its target to $235 from $280, and JPMorgan downgraded it to Neutral from Overweight and cut its target from $285 to $235.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) closed up 5.5% at $425.38 on Monday despite the market sell-off. Jefferies upgraded it to Buy from Hold and raised its target price to $490 from $355.
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc. (NASDAQ: TNDM) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $91 from $85 (versus an $86.79 close) at Raymond James. It had an $82.23 consensus target price, and its 52-week trading range is 447.36 to $91.65.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, but the firm did raise its target price to $800 from $600. Tesla closed down almost 7.5% at $833.79 a share on Monday and was indicated up about 2% around $250.00 on Tuesday. Its consensus target price was still down at $499.00 or so due to such a wide range of estimates.
Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX) was started with a Buy rating and a $165 target price (versus a $131.50 close) at Needham. It had a $160.13 consensus target price.
Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agilent Technologies, Antero Midstream, Chewy, Domino’s Pizza, eHealth, First Solar, Kraft Heinz, Newmont, Square, Tilray and Wayfair and many more.
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