Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allergan, Autodesk, Home Depot, Marvell, Qualcomm, UnitedHealth, Walmart and More

November 29, 2017 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks screamed higher to all-time records on Tuesday, and the indexes were indicated higher on Wednesday as well. With the markets remaining right at all-time highs, it is important to not forget that the one trend that has won for more than five years now is for investors to buy all the big market sell-offs. It also needs to be considered that investors are on the hunt for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.

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

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

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, November 29, 2017.

Allergan PLC (NYSE: AGN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $200 price target (versus a $171.92 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. Allergan has a 52-week trading range of $168.43 to $256.80, and that 52-week low is just from this week while the stock market hit all-time highs. Allergan’s consensus analyst target price was still closer to $229 ahead of this call.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was down 0.2% at $129.95 but was trading down 12% at $114.25 after earnings on Wednesday morning. Wedbush Securities downgraded Autodesk to Neutral from Outperform and cut its target price to $126 from $138. Its 52-week range is $68.06 to $131.10, and that 52-week high was just on the day ahead of earnings. Its pre-earnings consensus analyst target price was about $133.50.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, and the firm raised its target price to $183 from $175. The firm sees its growth weighted in 2018 and the stock could have an upside story of $200. Home Depot has a 52-week range of $128.68 to $176.77, and that high was hit on Tuesday. The consensus target price was $179.34 ahead of this call.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was last seen up 2.7% at $23.90 on Wednesday morning after earnings. Credit Suisse had been very positive just a day before, and Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target price to $28 from $27. Stifel maintained its Hold rating on Marvell, but it raised its target price to $19 from $16. Marvell’s 52-week range is $13.59 to $24.22, and the prior consensus target was about $24.50.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has been embattled in many angles, and Stifel cut its rating to Hold from Buy, now that shares are much higher off lows on the Broadcom buyout efforts.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was up 1.76% at $216.14 on Tuesday after the prior day’s guidance for 2018. Credit Suisse has reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $240 from $233. UnitedHealth saw other price targets raised as well: Leerink to $260 from $240, Wells Fargo to $245 from $230 and Raymond James to $250 from $235.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with a $96 price target (versus a $96.77 close) at RBC Capital Markets. It has a 52-week range of $65.28 to $100.13 and a consensus target price of $99.95.

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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ADMS) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $70 price target (versus a $33.83 close) at Northland Securities. This stock was up 4% at $35.20 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $13.50 to $34.26.

CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $15 price target (versus a $12.81 close) at Citigroup.

Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) was started with a Neutral rating and a $65 target price (versus a $59.17 close) at UBS.

Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $22 price target (versus a $20.68 close) at B. Riley. The stock was down almost 1.5% at $20.38 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $17.80 to $36.85.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $190 from $180 (versus a $164.48 close) at Jefferies.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. The shares were down 0.4% at $65.25 on Tuesday and were indicated down 0.7% at $64.75 on Wednesday.

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus. Shares were down almost 1% at $27.63 on Tuesday, but the upgrade has taken back all of those losses with a 1% recovery on Wednesday to $27.91.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was started as Buy and assigned a $125 price target (versus a $107.16 close) at Argus. The 52-week range is $74.66 to $110.01 and the consensus target price is $111.92.

MuleSoft Inc. (NYSE: MULE) was raised to Outperform from Perform and was given a $30 price target at Oppenheimer.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was raised to Hold from Sell with a $33 price target (versus a $32.13 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was up 2.7% at $39.85 on Tuesday but was indicated down 4% at $38.27 on Wednesday. It was maintained as Buy with a $41 price target but was removed from the prized Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs. Guggenheim downgraded Wingstop to Neutral from Buy.

Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA) was raised to Outperform from In-Line and the price target was raised to $120 from $95 (versus a $109.34 close) at Imperial Capital. This removes the lowest price target on Zebra from all analysts in the Thomson Reuters sell-side universe, and the consensus analyst target price is $122.50.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Bazaarvoice, General Motors, Home Depot, MGIC, Nike, T-Mobile and over a dozen more.

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