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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amgen, Caterpillar, Dollar General, Duke Energy, GE, Honeywell, 3M, Netflix, Sprint and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: January 23, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: July 14, 2022 7:55 am

Stocks were mixed on Tuesday morning as the earnings reports start to flow and as government offices begin to reopen after a one-day closure. The bull market is now almost nine years old, and the trend that keeps winning is for investors to buy on pullbacks. Now it’s time to decide how to position portfolios for 2018 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports and research reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

24/7 Wall St. has also identified 10 top technology giants, actually nine after Netflix, that analysts have grown more bullish for strong earnings and guidance ahead of their formal earnings reports in the next couple of weeks.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, January 23, 2018.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was raised to Buy from Hold and assigned a $220 price target at Argus. Shares closed up 1.6% at $192.33 on Monday and were indicated up 0.8% at $193.90 on Tuesday. The biotech giant has a 52-week trading range of $150.38 to $192.57 and a consensus analyst target price of $192.60.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Seaport Global, and the price target of $195 compares with a prior closing price of $170.90. Caterpillar has a 52-week range of $90.34 to $173.24 and a consensus price target of $167.04.

CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $45 price target (versus a $33.75 prior close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. CRISPR has a 52-week range of $16.51 to $34.18 and had a consensus price target of $27.33.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) was started as Buy with a $116 price target (versus a $99.97 close) at UBS. The 52-week range is $78.97 to $100.88 and the consensus price target is $102.00.

DCP Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DCP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $40 price objective (versus a $41.99 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $41 price target (versus a $34.62 close) at Susquehanna. It has a 52-week range of $23.88 to $54.03, and it had a consensus price target of $33.08.

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $13 price target (versus a $19.92 close) at Barclays. The 52-week range is $10.06 to $20.41. The consensus analyst target is $14.49.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was raised to Outperform from Underperform with a $117 price target (versus a $102.27 close) at Wells Fargo. It has a 52-week range of $65.97 to $102.30 and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV) was started as Neutral at UBS.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with an $83 price target (versus a $76.95 close) at Credit Suisse. Duke Energy has a 52-week range of $76.28 to $91.80 and had a consensus price target of $86.04 before this call.

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $45 price target (versus a $34.62 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. It has a 52-week range of $13.12 to $36.00 and a consensus price target of $33.21.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was started as Buy with an $85 price target at UBS. Emerson closed at $73.26, in a 52-week range of $56.77 to $74.45. The consensus price target is $71.12.

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Gardner Denver Corp. (NYSE: GDI) was started as Buy with a $42 price target at UBS.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $17 price target (versus a $16.17 close) at UBS. GE shares closed down 0.55% at $16.17 on Monday were indicated up almost 0.9% at $16.31 on Tuesday. The troubled conglomerate has a 52-week range of $15.80 to $30.59 and a consensus price target of $20.85.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was started as Buy with a $182 price target (versus a $158.84 close) at UBS. Honeywell has a 52-week range of $117.12 to $159.85 and a consensus price target of $168.45.

Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE: IR) was started as Buy with a $105 price target at UBS. It was down 1.2% at $89.84 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $77.00 to $96.23 and with a consensus price target of $99.25.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) was started with a Sell rating with a $55 price target at UBS. After closing at $56.42, ITT has a 52-week range of $36.93 to $56.68 and a consensus price target of $55.64.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) was started as Buy with a $50 price target (versus a $39.20 close) at UBS. It has a 52-week range of $34.51 to $44.70 and a consensus price target of $42.77.

Juno Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: JUNO) is being acquired, and Leerink lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $255 price target (versus a $247.30 close) at UBS. 3M has a 52-week range of $173.55 to $249.00, and its consensus target price is $232.33.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) closed up 3.2% at $227.58 ahead of earnings on Monday, and its shares were last seen trading up 11% at $253.10 on Tuesday after blowing out new subscriber additions in the quarter and guiding higher this quarter. Pivotal Research raised its target to $300 from $270 and reiterated its Buy rating, and B. Riley raised its target to $240 from $211 and maintained its Buy rating. Wedbush is maintaining its Underperform rating on Netflix, but it did raise its target to $110 from $93, noting that the company is going to burn its cash funding content acquisition and as international profits may remain elusive over competition.

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Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was started as Buy with a $240 price target at UBS. Rockwell Automation closed at $203.93 on Monday. It has a 52-week range of $139.72 to $210.72, and it had a consensus price target of $190.12 ahead of this call.

Rowan Companies PLC (NYSE: RDC) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays. After closing up 1.76% at $16.20 on Monday, its shares were indicated down 1.3% at $16.00 on Tuesday. Rowan has a 52-week range of $9.02 to $20.25 and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price target was cut to $5.00 from $6.50 at Macquarie. Sprint closed down 2.7% at $5.32 on Monday, and it was indicated down 0.5% more at $5.28 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $5.24 to $9.65, and the wireless carrier has a consensus price target of $5.88.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) was started as Sell with a $215 price target (versus a $229.86 close) at UBS. It has a 52-week range of $155.00 to $262.71 and a consensus price target of $210.00.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, BHP Billiton, CBS, Eli Lilly, General Electric, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Verizon and many more.