Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, CenturyLink, Charles Schwab, Coca-Cola, Dow, Facebook, Gilead, Intel, Medtronic, Square, TJX, Under Armour and More

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Published: March 25, 2020 9:07 am

Last Updated: March 25, 2020 9:23 am

Stocks did prove again that they could rally with a huge day on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrials rose over 2,000 points and the Nasdaq gained over 550 points. The White House and the Senate reportedly have reached a $2 trillion stimulus agreement to help stabilize the economy. Now that the new realities are being felt, even if they are not fully quantified, Wall Street is having to dial down its expectations for 2020 and even 2021 as the economic pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on individuals and companies alike.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week to find new ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks that firms want their clients to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid. Investors should never use any individual analyst report as a sole reason to buy or sell a stock, and analyst reports should only be one small portion of evaluating companies.

Consensus analyst target prices and other consensus data come from Refinitiv. These are the top analyst calls for Wednesday, March 25, 2020.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $270 target price at Deutsche Bank, with the firm noting the stock was no longer expensive on a risk-reward basis. Apple closed up 10% at $244.88 a share on Tuesday.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the target price was slashed to $6 from $13 (versus a $9.95 prior close, after a 14.5% gain) at Citigroup.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) was raised to Buy from Neutral but the target price was lowered to $37 from $40 at Citigroup.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $51 target price at DZ Bank.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

DHT Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DHT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that tankers look to be very large cash creators for investors. Shares most recently closed at $6.42 and have a consensus price target of $9.31.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $32 target price at Citigroup. It closed up over 7% at $28.47 ahead of the call, with a $41.90 consensus target price.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $235 from $260 at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was maintained as Hold at SunTrust, which noted that its hopeful treatment for COVID-19 data from China could be confusing and also that the drug is hard to make.

Goldman Sachs BDC Inc. (NYSE: GSBD) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $15.75 target price (versus an $11.25 close, after an 18.4% gain) at Wells Fargo.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $65 target price at Argus. Intel closed up over 5.5% at $52.40 on Tuesday, with a $63.95 consensus target price.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.

Jounce Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: JNCE) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with an $11 target price at Raymond James. Shares previously closed up almost 4% at $4.33, and the consensus target price was $10.38.

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Kontoor Brands Inc. (NYSE: KTB) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $17 target price at Goldman Sachs.

Kraft-Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $29 target price at JPMorgan.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold with a $360 target price at DZ Bank.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $90 target price at DZ Bank.

Mimecast Ltd. (NASDAQ: MIME) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

MFA Financial Inc. (NYSE: MFA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush Securities.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Outperform with a $93 target price at Wedbush.

New York Mortgage Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: NYMT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Maxim.

Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) also was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

Rapid7 Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD) was started as Buy with a $49 target price (versus a $41.70 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $21 target price (versus a $16.20 close) at Wedbush.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) was raised to Buy from Sell but the target price was lowered to $93 from $110 (versus a $71.58 close, after an almost 14% gain) at Goldman Sachs.

Sleep Number Corp. (NASDAQ: SNBR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Southwest Airlines Inc. (NYSE: LUV) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $45 target price at Cowen.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was maintained as Buy at Needham, but the firm cut its target price to $60 from $95. Nomura/Instinet raised it to Neutral from Sell with a $49 target price. The stock closed up almost 16% at $46.31 on Tuesday, and it had a consensus target price of $73.43.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform but its target price was cut to $45 from $64 at RBC Capital Markets.

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TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said it’s best to avoid trips, especially in this stock. Shares last closed at $18.55, with a consensus price target of $28.96.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $9 target price (versus a $9.15 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: VG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $7.50 target price at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed up over 14% at $6.48 ahead of the call, with a $12.50 consensus target price.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Alcoa, Biomarin Pharmaceutical, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Intel, Kinder Morgan, Micron Technology, Nvidia, Tesla, Twitter, Zillow and many more.

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