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Top Analyst Downgrades and Upgrades: Activision, AON, Disney, Enphase, Monster Beverage, New Relic, Novavax, Paycom, Wynn and More
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The three major equity indexes were all indicated to open higher on Wednesday on more COVID-19 vaccine news from two companies. With earnings season now mostly complete, investors have some decisions to make about how they want to be positioned ahead of an upcoming election and what is still a very deep recession.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.
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 we have seen on Wednesday, August 5, 2020.
Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was up almost 2% at $86.45 a share ahead of earnings but was down about 1.5% at $85.10 afterward. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $96 from $92. Needham reiterated it as Buy and raised its price target from $90 to $102.
AON PLC (NYSE: AON) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.
Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was started as Buy with a $34 target price (versus a $27.65 prior close) at Jefferies.
Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CORT) was last seen trading down about 10% at $14.05 after earnings. Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy.
Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that people have been turning toward this pizza chain to cure their pandemic blues. Shares most recently closed at $391.86 and have a consensus price target of $429.00.
Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $77 from $53 (versus a $68.95 close) at Needham.
Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.
Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $92 from $90 (versus a $78.01 close) at Credit Suisse. Also, Deutsche Bank reiterated it as Buy and raised its target price from $83 to $92.
24/7 Wall St.New Relic Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) was last seen trading down about 18% at $60.00 after earnings. JPMorgan downgraded it to Neutral from Overweight. Raymond James maintained its Strong Buy rating but cut its target price to $70 from $75. Rosenblatt maintained a Neutral rating but cut the target from $65 to $60, and Needham maintained its Buy rating but trimmed its target price to $77 from $70.
Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its target price was raised to $275 from $105 (versus a $157.17 close) at JPMorgan. Shares were last seen trading up over 22% at $192.98 after the company said it saw promising results from its COVID-19 vaccine trials.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $313 target price (versus a $254.91 close) at BTIG.
Paycom Software Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $316 from $265 (versus a $285.50 close) at Needham. Piper Sandler upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral and raised its target to $328 from $298.
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that earnings estimates and share price are falling in the wrong direction for this theme park. Shares last closed at $17.15 and have a consensus price target of $21.67.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was up 0.8% at $117.29 ahead of earnings but was last seen up almost 6% at $124.40 after the report included a direct-to-consumer launch of its “Mulan” movie. Credit Suisse raised Disney to Outperform from Neutral and lifted its target price to $146 from $116. Rosenblatt reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target from $135 to $145.
Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) was removed from the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities due to investment price discipline, although this stock has been somewhat range-bound over the past month.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $89 from $94 (versus a $72.75 close) at Deutsche Bank.
The analysts at Truist Securities (formed of the merger of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and BB&T Capital Markets) are very positive on top internet and digital media stocks. Five of them are rated Buy and look to have strong implied upside for aggressive investors.
Furthermore, there are five sky-high dividend stocks with more upside potential ahead.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Charter Communications, Clorox, FirstEnergy, Neurocrine Biosciences, RingCentral, Roku, Seagate Technology, Take-Two Interactive Software and Zillow.
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