Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AIG, Atlassian, Chubb, Deere, Hecla, ITT, Netflix, Roku, Splunk, Square, Tesla, Workday and More

Bet_Noire / Getty Images

Stocks sold off on Monday, but futures were pointing to a stronger open on Tuesday morning. Half of the stock market’s losses from late February and March have already been seen. Earnings season is getting off to a start this week, and the bad economic numbers have only just started in the past couple of weeks. Many investors have been caught off guard at first by the instant recession and then by the immediate market recovery. This is a time when many are looking for new ideas about how to be best positioned for the rest of 2020.

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

Many analysts have lowered their target prices in recent weeks. That is true even in many analyst upgrades are coming with lower price targets. Yet, there are still many traditional analyst upgrades and reiterations, as if things were still close to normal. Remember that 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 Tuesday, April 14, 2020.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $13 from $11 at B. Riley FBR.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was maintained as Hold but its price target was lowered to $36 from $52 (versus a $25.63 prior close) at Deutsche Bank. The consensus price target was $42.00.

Atlassian Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM) was reiterated as Buy with a $162 price target (versus a $135.30 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was raised to Hold from Sell with a $140 price target (versus a $119.61 prior close) at Deutsche Bank.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $22 price target (versus a $23.62 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Daimler was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the auto industry is about to feel the wrath of coronavirus. OTC shares last closed at $31.95, with a consensus price target of $27.85.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $155 from $160 at Citigroup. Deere closed down 4% at $139.80, with a $168.59 consensus target price ahead of the call.

DRDGold Ltd. (NYSE: DRD) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that gold miners are benefiting greatly from gold prices. Shares recently closed at $8.81 and have a consensus price target of $9.25.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $1.50 price target (versus a $2.32 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target was slashed to $52 from $84 at Stifel. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating but cut its price target to $62 from $65. Shares closed down 4.3% at $49.00, with a $60.18 consensus price target ahead of the call.

MarineMax Inc. (NYSE: HZO) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $14 from $12 (versus a $12.07 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.


Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $188 price target (versus a $156.71 close) at Stephens.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $17 price target (versus a $12.03 close) at Cowen.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $447 from $438 at Imperial Capital. Netflix closed up 7% at $396.72 on Monday, with a $370.18 consensus price target.

New Relic Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $75 from $85 (versus a $50.68 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTI) was reiterated as Buy with a $12 price target (versus a $7.91 close, after a 13.5% gain) at Dawson James, which noted that the FDA cleared its compassionate use using PLX cells to treat its first COVID-19 patient in the United States.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. Shares closed down 3.6% at $78.89 on Monday, with a $92.27 consensus price target.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was reiterated as Neutral with a $86 price target (versus a $96.56 close) at Wedbush Securities, and Oppenheimer reiterated its rating as Outperform and raised its price target to $120 from $110. The stock was indicated up 14% at $110.00, after preannouncing strong revenues and opportunities with more streaming and cord-cutting.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $350 from $380 (versus a $283.56 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $180 from $190 (versus a $125.88 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. It closed up 0.3% at $59.42, with a $64.17 consensus price target ahead of the call.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and its price target was raised to $580 from $415 (versus a $650.95 close) at Credit Suisse.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was raised to Neutral from Sell but its price target was lowered to $2.75 from $3.50 (versus a $2.63 close) at UBS.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $170 price target (versus a $141.18 close) at Morgan Stanley.

24/7 Wall St. has identified 15 basic economy dividend stocks that almost all income-oriented investors will want to own after the COVID-19 recession passes.

RBC has five Outperform-rated biotech stocks with 100% implied upside.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alibaba, Apple, American Express, Brinker, Caterpillar, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dell, Halliburton, Palo Alto Networks, Starbucks, Texas Instruments, Travelers and many more.

Is Your Money Earning the Best Possible Rate? (Sponsor)

Let’s face it: If your money is just sitting in a checking account, you’re losing value every single day. With most checking accounts offering little to no interest, the cash you worked so hard to save is gradually being eroded by inflation.

However, by moving that money into a high-yield savings account, you can put your cash to work, growing steadily with little to no effort on your part. In just a few clicks, you can set up a high-yield savings account and start earning interest immediately.

There are plenty of reputable banks and online platforms that offer competitive rates, and many of them come with zero fees and no minimum balance requirements. Click here to see if you’re earning the best possible rate on your money!

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.