Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, CarMax, Celgene, Chevron, Exxon, Lyft, FedEx, Peabody Energy, UPS, Wells Fargo and More

Investing

Published: April 1, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 10:38 pm

The first quarter is over, and the Dow Jones industrial average was up 11% year to date, the S&P 500 was up 13% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq generated a return of more than 16%. All of that is on top of the bull market officially turning 10 years old. Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday after the first positive manufacturing report out of China in several months. Investors need to consider how they want their investments and assets positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary and trading data have been added on some of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, April 1, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was reiterated as Outperform at Wedbush Securities, but the firm added the video game publisher to its Best Ideas List on word that it looks to be positioned to deliver significant outperformance over the next two years, even as muted performance of some top games could still allow it to beat earnings expectations in 2019. The firm sees Activision Blizzard being worth $60 at a 20-times earnings in 2020 figure plus its net cash.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $2,085 from $1,975 (versus a $1,780.75 prior close) at Oppenheimer. Amazon has a consensus target price of $2,080.05.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was raised to Buy from Neutral and but the price target was lowered to $65 from $74 (versus a $45.48 close) at Citigroup.

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) closed up 9.6% at $69.80 on Friday, and on Monday its rating was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens. It has a consensus target price of $79.15 and a 52-week trading range of $55.24 to $81.67.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) closed almost 8% higher at $94.34 on Friday after two proxy firms recommended that investors support its acquisition by Bristol-Myers. As a result, it was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS and to Neutral from Overweight at Atlantic Equities.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was started with an Overweight rating Morgan Stanley. After closing at $123.18, shares were indicated up 1% at $124.40. Chevron’s consensus target price is $137.54.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Exxon closed flat at $80.80, and it has a 52-week range of $64.65 to $87.36 and a consensus price target of $83.99.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Berenberg. FedEx closed up 2% at $181.41, in a 52-week range of $150.94 to $266.67. The consensus price target is $221.40.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $180 from $155 at Nomura/Instinet.