Investing

Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bed Bath & Beyond, Ciena, DocuSign, eHealth, Faceboook, Netflix, PNC, Square, Tilray, Twitter, Zoom and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 16, 2020 9:08 am

Last Updated: April 16, 2020 9:19 am

Stocks closed down on Wednesday as the economic numbers are starting to show just how weak the economy is becoming, but a drop in jobless claims (to 5.25 million) has allowed stocks to rise less than 1% on Thursday morning. Investors have been caught off guard in many of the moves in recent weeks, and many are now looking for any 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 Thursday, April 16, 2020.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was started as Buy with a $60 price target (versus a $45.19 prior close) at Jefferies.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $146 price target (versus a $129.21 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Anaplan Inc. (NYSE: PLAN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Rosenblatt.

Avid Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this media software provider is seeing big demand from work-from-home solutions. Shares most recently closed at $6.11, with a consensus price target of $10.17.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was down 17% at $4.44 on Wednesday but was trading up 16% at $5.15 on Thursday morning after its guidance and business update. Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating with an $8 price target. Raymond James maintained its Strong Buy rating but trimmed its price target to $9 from $11.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $115 from $90 (versus a $100.53 close) at Wedbush, with the firm calling it as being at the right place at the right time as its deal-flow is holding up better than expected in the COVID-19 pandemic environment. The shares had an $86.46 consensus price target.

eHealth Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH) was started as Overweight and the price target was set at $150 (versus a $119.21 close) at Barclays.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was maintained as Outperform with a $250 price target at Wedbush, but the firm removed it from the Best Ideas List. The report talked about dropping advertising rates in digital ads and points out that much of the near-term upside for Facebook is already priced into its stock. Shares closed at $176.97, with a $224.77 consensus target price.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIII) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that apparel makers are just trying to survive 2020. Shares last closed at $9.75 and have a consensus price target of $15.05.

L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX) was started with a Buy rating and a $250 price objective at BofA Securities. The stock closed down 1% at $195.00 and had a $248.50 consensus price target ahead of the call.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) was started with a Buy rating and a $151 price target (versus an $82.89 close) at Goldman Sachs. It had a $113.71 consensus price target.

Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE: MHK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) closed up 3.2% at $426.75 a share, with a consensus price target of $374.87. Wedbush reiterated its Underperform rating and its $194 price target, noting that while momentum is expected to continue through the second quarter, there is competition and content loss and COVID-related production halts all weighing on its longer-term outlook. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $490 from $430, and Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $450 from $400.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays. The stock closed down almost 3% at $58.22 on Wednesday and had a $57.11 consensus price target.

Oragenics Inc. (NASDAQ: OGEN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at H.C. Wainwright.

Plantronics Inc. (NYSE: PLT) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight but its price target was raised to $10 from $8 (versus a $13.89 close, after a 12.8% gain) at Morgan Stanley. It had a $17.60 consensus price target.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $114 from $95 (versus a $92.43 close) at Nomura/Instinet. It had a $112.79 prior consensus price target.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was started with a Buy rating and a $265 price target (versus a $231.44 close) at BTIG.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was reiterated as Neutral with a $15.25 price target (versus a $13.58 close) at Wedbush, with the firm talking about ad pricing as a headwind despite engagement gains at this time.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies, but the firm did raise its price target to $5.00 from $3.75. Shares closed down 3.5% at $6.79, with a $10.09 prior consensus price target ahead of the call.

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Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $29 price target at JPMorgan.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $46 from $35 (versus a $33.33 close, after a 6.9% drop) at Nomura/Instinet. It had a $41.75 prior consensus price target.

Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Rosenblatt.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was started with a Neutral rating at BTIG.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Akamai Technologies, Carlyle, Ford, General Motors, JD.com, Moderna, Netflix, Peloton Interactive, Raytheon Technologies, Target, Tesla, Visa and many more.