Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Apple, Barrick Gold, Home Depot, Lennar, Lowe's, Newmont, Nikola, Oracle, Valero, Visa and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 17, 2020 9:02 am

Last Updated: June 17, 2020 9:13 am

The stock market was indicated up again on Wednesday, with Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 futures up about 0.5%. The market is assimilating a second wave of COVID-19 cases as economies continue to reopen while the economic readings continue to improve. Now is a time that investors should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the remainder of 2020.

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. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

What has happened in the most recent drive of the gains is that many analyst calls have included upgrades and price target hikes, but in often stocks are managing to move even beyond what the ratings and expectations might have indicated.

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 we have seen on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

Albireo Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ALBO) was reiterated as Outperform with a $60 price target (versus a $26.06 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Alpine Income Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: PINE) was started as Buy and a $19 price target (versus a $16.76 close) at Janney.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) closed up 1.6% at $2,615.27 on Tuesday, with a $2,734.63 consensus target price. Needham started it with a Buy rating and a $3,200 price target.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm points out that no one has been to the movies recently. Shares last closed at $5.56 and have a consensus price target of just $4.00.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $390 from $345 at RBC Capital Markets. Apple closed up 2.6% at $352.08 on Tuesday, with a $326.41 consensus target price.

Baozun Inc. (NASDAQ: BZUN) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said the post-COVID landscape in China has a solid risk/reward and so does this stock. Shares most recently closed at $34.07, with a consensus price target of $37.66.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: GOLD) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $35 from $34 at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down over 2.5% at $24.12 on Tuesday and had a $29.87 consensus price target.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $80 from $71 (versus a $70.36 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $276 from $260 (versus a $249.95 close) at Stifel. Home Depot had a $252.15 consensus target price.

KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE: KAR) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $20 from $15 (versus a $15.66 close) at SunTrust, which noted that its top-line and profitability activity levels are rebounding faster than expected as it has planned to cut costs.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $70 from $63 (versus a $63.94 close) at Barclays.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $156 from $149 (versus a $131.74 close) at Stifel. It had a $138.60 consensus target price.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $344 from $317 (versus a $304.48 close) at Citigroup. Mastercard had a $320.53 consensus price target.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $57 from $50 (versus a $36.47 close) at SunTrust.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $74 from $70 at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down over 1.5% at $55.95 on Tuesday and had a $73.33 consensus price target.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) was started with an Outperform rating and a $79 price target (versus a $62.93 close) at Cowen. The post-SPAC trading range has been $10.27 to $93.99, and its market cap is listed as $22.7 billion.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) closed at $54.59 ahead of earnings. Wedbush reiterated its Neutral rating and its $54 price target, and Stifel reiterated its Hold rating and raised its target to $48 from $44. Citigroup reiterated its Neutral rating but raised its target to $54 from $45.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $28.00 from $24.50 (versus a $26.44 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed up 4% at $66.16, with a $73.82 consensus target price.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $223 from $205 (versus a $192.88 close) at Citigroup. Visa had a $207.40 consensus price target.

BofA Securities has four top cloud and cybersecurity picks for big upside ahead.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Alcoa, Apple, Broadwind, Cogent Communications, Intel, Micron Technology, Netflix, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Square, Zscaler and more.