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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CarMax, DowDuPont, Gilead, GrubHub, Microsoft, Nike, Western Digital and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: October 5, 2017 9:05 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:20 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Thursday after small gains on Wednesday, and all major equity indexes remain at or close to all-time highs. The dominating trend of this more than eight year bull market is that investors keep managing to find new reasons to buy stocks after every market sell-off. Those same investors are also on the hunt for new investing and trading ideas with their capital.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

The consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls.

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

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer, with the firm noting that it was stepping to the sidelines in the story for now. Shares closed at $76.45 on Wednesday and were down 1.5% at $75.30 on Thursday. CarMax also has a consensus analyst target price of $76.87 and has a 52-week trading range of $47.50 to $77.64.

DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $80 price target at Deutsche Bank. The stock closed at $70.45 a share, and it has a consensus target price of $77.90.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was started with a Perform rating at Oppenheimer, noting that the “Supertanker hasn’t yet accelerated” in its note. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating and its $100 target on Gilead. The firm noted that its concerned about increased competition in the hep-C market, but it thinks patient volumes may decline less than previously projected in 2017 and may even increase in 2018 due to increased screening and heightened awareness of new treatments. Gilead has a 52-week range of $63.76 to $86.27 and a consensus target price of $82.67.

GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $56 price target (versus a $54.10 prior close) at Citigroup. It has a consensus target price of $55.10 and a 52-week range of $32.43 to $57.61.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $86 price target (versus a $74.69 close) at Canaccord Genuity. Microsoft has a 52-week range of $56.32 to $75.97 and a consensus price target of $80.70.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $56 price target (versus a $52.08 close) at Pivotal Research. This was a somewhat industrywide cautious apparel/footwear call from the firm. Nike’s 52-week range is $49.01 to $60.53, and the consensus analyst target is $59.04.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with an $80 price target (versus an $84.35 close) at Deutsche Bank. The stock has a 52-week range of $52.10 to $95.77 and a consensus price target of $115.76.

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Other top analyst calls were seen as follows:

Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ABEO) was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $35 from $17 (versus a $17.40 close) at Maxim Group. The shares were indicated up 6.6% at $18.55 on Thursday, in a 52-week high of $18.90 and with a prior consensus target price of $20.00.

Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI), or ANGI Homeservices, was reinstated as Outperform and assigned a $14 price target (versus an $11.81 close) at Oppenheimer.

BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $53 price target (versus a $46.37 close) at Stephens.

Calithera Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CALA) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $38 price target (versus a $37.43 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) was started as Hold at Pivotal Research.

CSRA Inc. (NYSE: CSRA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $35 from $37 (versus $31.98 close) at Jefferies.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was maintained as Sector Perform but the price target was raised to $44 from $38 (versus a $43.78 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Leidos Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LDOS) was assumed with a Buy rating and the price target moved up to $75 from $52 (versus a $60.25 close) at Jefferies.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $15.50 price target (versus a $14.70 close) at Compass Point.

Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $17 price target (versus a $16.92 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was raised to Buy from Underperform with a $435 price target (versus a $374.17 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $17 price target (versus a $16.47 close) at Pivotal Research.

VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $75 price target (versus a $64.91 close) at Pivotal Research.

Jefferies started ProPetro Holding Corp. (NYSE: PUMP) and Keane Group Inc. (NYSE: FRAC) with Buy ratings, and Mammoth Energy Services Inc. (NASDAQ: TUSK) with a Hold rating. RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) was downgraded to Hold from Buy in these calls.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Freeport-McMoRan, Gilead Sciences, FuelCell, Oracle, Take-Two Interactive, Tesla, Waste Management and many more.