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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Disney, DuPont, Halliburton, Moderna, Phillips 66, Sunrun, Teladoc and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: July 13, 2020 9:08 am

Last Updated: July 13, 2020 9:23 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday despite more bad news on coronavirus cases spiking in certain areas in the country. Investors have seen stocks manage to keep surging higher despite bad news, and this earnings season is expected to be the worst year-over-year comparison since the Great Recession more than a decade ago. With an election coming up and with what is still a very deep recession, investors should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the second half of 2020 and as 2021 comes into focus.

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.

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 Monday, July 13, 2020.

Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AIMT) was started as Outperform with a $35 target price (versus a $15.68 prior close) at Cowen.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) was started with an Outperform rating and a $30 price target (versus a $26.91 close) at Evercore ISI Group.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $1,650 from $1,560 (versus a $1,539.01 close) at Mizuho. Alphabet had a $1,550.93 consensus target price, and its recent new high was $1,541.34.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $3,450 from $3,100 (versus a $3,200.00 close) at Mizuho. Amazon hit a new high of $3,215.00, and its consensus price target was still down at $2,852.48.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $450 from $425 at Wedbush Securities, but the firm also adjusted its bullish case up to $525. The firm sees Apple becoming the first $2 trillion company, as it estimates that roughly 350 million of the 950 million iPhones worldwide are in the upgrade window for the iPhone 12 and the 5G super-cycle over the next 12 to 18 months.

Denny’s Corp. (NASDAQ: DENN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and its target price was cut to $10 from $12 at Stephens.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $69 from $57 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $92 from $82 (versus a $70.19 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GBT) was started with a Buy rating and a $92 price objective at BofA Securities. Shares closed up 2.57% at $71.12 on Friday, with a $108.31 consensus target price.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $15 from $12 at Raymond James.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $40 from $34 (versus a $34.89 close) at Oppenheimer.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $125 from $115 (versus a $106.61 close) at Raymond James.

Midland States Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: MSBI) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) was started with a Buy rating and a $90 price target (versus a $62.61 close) at Jefferies. It has a 52-week range of $11.54 to $87.00 and a consensus target price of $91.90.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $625 from $500 at BMO Capital Markets.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $130 from $115 at Raymond James. Shares closed down 0.7% at $117.10 ahead of the call, and the consensus target price was $119.70.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was lowered to $80 from $85 (versus a $61.06 close) at Raymond James. It had an $87.47 consensus target price, and its 52-week range is $40.04 to $119.92.

Pool Corp. (NASDAQ: POOL) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that with many public facilities closed, backyard pools are becoming increasingly popular. Shares most recently closed at $278.49 and have a consensus price target of $258.14.

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ: RPRX) was started with a Buy rating and a $56 price target (versus a $47.64 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

SBA Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: SBAC) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that many traditional retailers are in trouble right now and, understandably, so are their landlords. Shares last closed at $63.98 and have a consensus price target of $86.14.

Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $32 price target (versus a $28.89 close, after a 3.8% gain) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was started with a Buy rating and a $280 target price (versus a $228.98 close) at Argus. It has a 52-week range of $54.58 to $230.40 and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ: VXRT) was started with a Buy rating and a $22 price target at B. Riley FBR. Shares closed down over 2.5% at $7.98 on Friday but were indicated up 12% at $8.94 on Monday.

Vivint Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: VSLR) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $18 from $12 (versus a $15.97 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock closed up over 4% on Friday, with a $14.38 consensus target price.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) has begun reopening its parks, and Goldman Sachs started the stock with a Buy rating and a $137 target price. Disney shares closed up 2.1% at $119.34 on Friday and were indicated up at $121.00 on Monday. The consensus target price was $122.35 ahead of the call.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Beyond Meat, Charter Communications, Comerica, Equifax, Fastly, Harley-Davidson, Netflix, Splunk, Wells Fargo and more.