Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Chevron, eBay, Gap, Halliburton, Juniper Networks, Yelp and Many More

June 5, 2017 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open down by about 0.1% or so on Monday, but this is after new all-time highs last week. The bull market is more than eight years old and investors have still proven time after time that they will buy every big sell-off. Those same investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Consensus analyst price target data are the mean of the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, June 5, 2017.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest, and the fair value estimate was $145 over the coming 12 months. The firm noted that investors are now having too high of expectations for the coming iPhone 8 and that the current share price does not reflect much risks (including any delay on a launch). Apple closed up 1.5% at $155.45 on Friday and was indicated down by 0.7% at $154.30 on Monday. It has 52-week trading range of $91.50 to $156.65 and a consensus analyst price target of $155.84.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC. Shares most recently closed down 1.1% at $103.11, and the 52-week range is $97.53 to $119.00. The consensus target price is $123.96.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was assumed with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse, but the prior $34 target price was raised to $44 as the firm called eBay an internet value story with several paths to creating value. The firm noted that eBay’s Marketplace growth is stable and has the potential to accelerate in 2017 and 2018, with attractive StubHub growth and an underappreciated Classifieds business.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was raised to Outperform from Perform and the price target was raised to $28 (versus a $22.56 prior closing price) at Oppenheimer. The firm noted that Old Navy continues to benefit from department store malaise while operating primarily outside of malls, and it noted that Gap is seeing margin expansion from early days of applying Old Navy’s processes. Gap has a 52-week range of $18.56 to $30.74 and a consensus price target of $25.38.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reiterated as Outperform with a $60 target price (versus a $45.30 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The firm sees risk/reward favoring Halliburton from an absolute and relative basis. Its stock has a 52-week range of $40.12 to $58.78 and a consensus target price of $62.08.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was started with a Sector Weight rating at Pacific Crest. The stock recently closed at $30.03, and it has a 52-week range of $21.18 to $30.96. The consensus analyst target is $30.96.

Yelp Inc. (NASDAQ: YELP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $37 price objective (versus a $28.79 close) at Merrill Lynch. Yelp was last seen trading up 3% at $29.65, and it has a 52-week range of $25.93 to $43.41 and a consensus target price of $31.47.

You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you want analyst calls and research notes directly on your own feed.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Endocyte Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was slashed to $2 from $8 (versus a $1.91 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Federated Investors Inc. (NYSE: FII) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Five Point Holdings LLC (NYSE: FPH) was started as Outperform with a $19 price target at RBC Capital Markets, and Citigroup started it as Buy with a $20 target. Five Point was started as Neutral at JPMorgan and started with a Market Perform rating at Wells Fargo.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was started as Buy with an $80 target price at Argus.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Keane Group Inc. (NYSE: FRAC) was started as Neutral with a $17 target price (versus a $15.59 close) at Susquehanna.

Loxo Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: LOXO) was last seen trading up 44% or so at $71.00 (versus a $48.98 close) based on positive cancer drug study news. The stock was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

Orbital-ATK Inc. (NYSE: OA) was started with a Neutral rating and given a $106 target price (versus a $104.32 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Perrigo Co. PLC (NYSE: PRGO) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was raised to Positive from Neutral by Susquehanna.

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $125 target price (versus a $101.42 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Analog Devices, Camping World, Ciena, Deere, RSP Permian, Ulta Beauty, Yum China and over a dozen more.

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