Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Broadcom, CBS, Etsy, Illumina, PulteGroup, SeaWorld, Wynn Resorts, Zillow and More

August 7, 2018 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to higher on Tuesday after Monday’s recovery rally. Investors have seen a very strong earnings season, with 80% of the S&P 500 reporting earnings and over 70% exceeding expectations. That said, the volatility in 2018 has created a less rewarding “buy every dip” than had been seen in prior years. Many investors are also trying to decide how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections and with international trade concerns.

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 analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets 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 Tuesday, August 7, 2018.

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALDR) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $19.20 prior close) at Stifel.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was lowered to $130 from $154 (versus a $123.36 close) at Stifel.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS) was started as Hold and assigned a $45 price target (versus $45.03 close) at Stifel.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $125 from $95 at Stifel.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) closed down 8.6% at $13.91 on Monday. Stifel started coverage on it with a Hold rating and a $17 price target.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was started as Overweight with a $265 price target (versus a $216.95 close) at Barclays. Shares were indicated up 1% at $219.10 on Tuesday. The consensus target price is $288.45 and the 52-week range is $197.46 to $285.68.

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. The stock closed down 0.6% at $52.85 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $47.54 to $67.57 and with a consensus price target of $64.56.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was up 2% at $42.43 on Monday ahead of earnings and indicated up 10.5% at $46.90 on Tuesday after the report. Stifel maintained it as Hold but raised its target to $46 from $37. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $51 from $48.

Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE: XOG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $17 price target (versus a $14.60 close) at Macquarie.

Gemphire Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GEMP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and the target price was raised to $320 from $210 at Morgan Stanley.

MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) was raised to Outperform from Neutral by Robert W. Baird.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was started as Buy and assigned a $137 price target (versus a $115.89 close) at Stifel.

ObsEva S.A. (NASDAQ: OBSV) was started as Outperform and assigned a $34 price target (versus a $13.84 close) at Wedbush, which noted that ObsEva is developing some of the first and best-in-class drug candidates to improve women’s reproductive health.

PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $65 price target (versus a $61.52 close) at Macquarie.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) was reiterated as Buy at Stifel but the target price was raised to $35 from $27. Janney maintained its Buy rating but raised its fair value estimate to $31 from $25. Macquarie raised it to Neutral from Underperform. The shares rose almost 17% to $24.69 after earnings on Monday and were indicated up another 1.5% at $25.05 on Tuesday.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was started as Buy and assigned a $35 price target (versus a $31.34 close) at Stifel.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) was up 1% ahead of earnings on Monday but last seen trading down over 16% at $48.60 early Tuesday. Merrill Lynch downgraded Zillow to Neutral from Buy and lowered its price objective to $60 from $70.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Applied Materials, Barrick Gold, Comcast, GoDaddy, Intel, PG&E, Qualcomm, Sirius XM and many more.

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