Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Google, Duke Energy, Mattel, Morgan Stanley, Netflix, Southwestern Energy, Twitter and More

February 2, 2016 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated lower again on Tuesday, with Dow and S&P futures down nearly 1% after a 4% drop in the price of oil. Investors are getting used to sell-offs in 2016, even into rallies. The trend for more than four years, before January, was that every stock market sell-off was met with investors buying the dips. Maybe nothing can last forever after all.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports are on stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst calls.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has now passed Apple as the world’s largest market cap. We have seen raised targets from the likes of Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets, Piper Jaffray and Credit Suisse. Alphabet closed up 1.2% at $770.77 before earnings, and shares were last seen up 5% at $810.00 afterward.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Duke closed up 2.26% at $77.00 on Monday, above its consensus analyst price target of $73.74 but still well within the 52-week trading range of $65.50 to $87.18.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel. Mattel closed down 3% at $26.76 before earnings, and shares were last seen up 6% at $28.40 afterward. Its pre-earnings consensus analyst target was $27.70 and its 52-week range is $19.45 to $30.44.


Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie. The stock closed at $25.71 and has a consensus analyst target of $35.13 and a 52-week range of $24.67 to $41.04.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $122.00 price target (versus a $94.09 prior close) at Piper Jaffray. Shares closed up 2.4% at $94.09 on Monday. Netflix has a $126.12 consensus analyst target and a 52-week range of $58.46 to $133.27.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. It was also downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $14 price target at Stifel. Twitter still supposedly has a consensus analyst target closer to $30. The 52-week range is $15.48 to $53.49.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following on Tuesday:
Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR) rose 45% to $54.11 after news that it was being acquired by Abbott Labs. Alere was downgraded to Hold from Buy at both Jefferies and Canaccord Genuity. Goldman Sachs downgraded it to Neutral from Buy. Raymond James downgraded Alere to Market Perform from Outperform.

Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) was downgraded to Reduce from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) was up 0.1% ahead of earnings, but its shares were last seen down 13% at $21.99 afterward. Wedbush Securities has raised its rating to Outperform from Neutral. Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Neutral from Buy.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Plantronics Inc. (NYSE: PLT) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.


Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

If you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cisco Systems, Micron Technology, Seagate Technology, Vertex Pharmaceutical, Walt Disney, Xerox and over a dozen more companies.

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