Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AT&T, BioCryst, Eli Lilly, Facebook, Flextronics, Gap, Tesla and More
October 9, 2015 by Jon C. OggAT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was maintained as Hold with a $35 price target at Canaccord Genuity. The firm’s comments were mostly positive, but it remains unprepared to call for a turn in growth yet, so it held the rating firm.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) was down almost 18% on Thursday after what was supposed to be a positive drug trial. Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its rating to Neutral from Buy and cut the price objective to $12 from $16 (versus a $9.75 prior close).
Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $105 from a prior target of $89 (versus an $83.77 close) at Credit Suisse.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, and the firm raised its price target to $115 from $110, with raised estimates, after adding more revenue generation. Facebook closed at $92.46 and has a consensus analyst price target of $111.60.
Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) was started as Buy with a $14.00 price target (versus a $10.92 close) at B. Riley. The consensus price target is $12.40, and the 52-week trading range is $8.46 to $12.86.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target was slashed to $29 from $40 (versus a $28.95 close) at MKM Partners. The Gap has a consensus price target of $34.76 and a 52-week range of $27.33 to $43.90.
Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) took a second downgrade this week as it was dropped to Underweight from Equal Weight and the price target was cut to $180 from $190 at Barclays. The stock closed at $226.72, has a consensus price target of $295 or so, and has a 52-week range of $181.40 to $286.65.
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Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were seen in the following on Friday:
ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
Alamo Group Inc. (NYSE: ALG) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy with a $45 price objective (versus a $50.46 close) at Merrill Lynch.
AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) was maintained as Buy at Janney Capital Markets, but the firm lowered its price target to $17.50 from $19.00 after saying that decent operating execution, notwithstanding soft top line, still justifies the rating.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) was maintained as Buy but was removed from the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Biomed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at R.W. Baird.
CPI Aerostructures Inc. (NYSE: CVU) was started as Buy and was assigned a $12.00 price target (versus an $8.75 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Digital Turbine Inc. (NASDAQ: APPS) was started with a Buy rating and $3.30 price target (versus a $1.92 close) at B. Riley.
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DuPont Fabros Technology Inc. (NYSE: DFT) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $32.00 fair value estimate (versus a $27.46 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $120 price target (versus a $120.53 close) at JPMorgan.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a price target cut to $40 from $44 (versus a $38.89 close) at Deutsche Bank, based on expected outflows after five months of seeing such outflows.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy but the price target was raised to $135 from $129 (versus a $132.45 close) at Jefferies.
Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) was started as Equal Weight with a $21.00 price target (versus a $19.85 close) at Morgan Stanley.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $29.00 price target (versus a $22.48 close) at B. Riley.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) was maintained as Buy at Argus after disappointing guidance, but the firm lowered its price target to $111 from $132 in the call (versus an $89.25 close).
Parker-Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and the price target was raised to $103 from $98 (versus $106.81 close) at JPMorgan.
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) was started as Overweight with a price target of $32.00 (versus a $28.57 close) at Pacific Crest.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH) was started as Outperform with a $107 price target at Credit Suisse.
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In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Brookdale Senior Living, Dish Network, Groupon, Infinera, Medtronic, Pier 1 Imports, Tupperware, Yum Brands and over a dozen more.