Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CBOE, Citrix, Etsy, ICE, Lululemon, Microsoft, Peloton, Regeneron, Twitter, United Rentals and More

Investing

Published: April 3, 2020 9:06 am

Stocks managed to close higher on Thursday, but the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 were indicated to open lower on Friday morning after the unemployment report. Many investors are now looking for direction, with all the recent volatility. The big bull market turned into a roaring bear market in less than a month, and most of the bad recession data in the formal economic reports has not even been seen yet.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. There are many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations that take place regardless of the volatile daily market gyrations. Some of analyst calls cover stocks to buy while some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

In recent weeks, many analysts have been handily lowering their target prices to deal with a new recessionary environment, but there are still many traditional upgrades and reiterations as if the economy wasn’t really been turned upside-down. Remember: no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst calls tracked for Friday, April 3, 2020.

CBOE Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) was raised to Buy from Neutral but the price target was lowered to $93 from $100 (versus an $81.14 prior close) at Citigroup.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $155 from $125 (versus a $142.52 close) at Raymond James.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was maintained as Buy but the price target was slashed to $45 from $64 (versus a $34.80 close) at Needham. Also, BTIG maintained it as Buy but cut its target price to $52 from $67.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was raised to Buy from Neutral but the price target was lowered to $106 from $122 (versus a $92.37 close) at Citigroup.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $210 price target at B. Riley FBR.

Marriot International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the stock has tumbled 60% in 2020 as the pandemic has brought travel and hotel industries to a near halt. Shares last closed at $63.00 and have a consensus price target of $108.90.

ALSO READ: 4 Merrill Lynch Buy-Rated Dividend Tech Stocks With Yields Up to Nearly 6%

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was maintained as Strong Buy but its price target was lowered to $183 from $200 at Raymond James. Microsoft closed up 2% at $155.26 on Thursday and had a $189.10 prior consensus target price.

Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its price target was lowered to $100 from $102 (versus a $93.96 close) at Citigroup.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was started with a Buy rating and a $42 price target at Rosenblatt. Shares closed down over 4% at $26.74, and the consensus price target was $37.33 ahead of this call.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform and its price target was slashed to $65 from $135 at RBC Capital Markets.

RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $6 from $16 (versus a $6.95 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock has surged 30% in 2020 as investors clamor for stocks that appear to be immune to the coronavirus. Shares most recently closed at $498.75, with a consensus price target of $476.21.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was cut to $35 from $39 (versus a $23.02 close) at Goldman Sachs.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was maintained as Neutral but the price target was cut to $15 from $17 (versus a $13.08 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) was raised to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was started with a Hold rating at Deutsche Bank.

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Citigroup has lowered its 2020 global GDP forecast to −1.6%, with the U.S. contracting 0.5% and the eurozone contracting 8.4%, while China is expected to grow just 2.4%.

Merrill Lynch has four top tech stock picks that have dividend yields of up to 6%.

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