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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, AT&T, BBVA, Cisco, Dollar Tree, Facebook, Roku, Seagate, Turkcell, Verizon and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 4, 2018 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 6:27 pm

Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday after the three-day weekend, but the major market equity indexes may have recently hit all-time highs after a strong earnings season. Investors have seen less upside from the “buy the dips” trends that had worked for several years. Those same investors also are trying to decide how they want their investments positioned for the rest of 2018.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some of them 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 are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, September 4, 2018.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was downgraded to In Line from Outperform with a $105 price target (versus a $98.85 prior close) at Evercore ISI.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $250 from $220 (versus a $227.63 close) at Canaccord Genuity. The call is ahead of an expected iPhone refresh, and Apple’s consensus target price was $218.90. The 52-week trading range is $149.16 to $228.87.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $310 target price (versus a $298.98 close) at Morgan Stanley.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was maintained as Equal Weight but the price target was slashed to $31 from $40 (versus a $31.94 close) at Barclays. AT&T had a consensus target price of $35.72 and a 52-week range of $30.13 to $39.80.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA), or just BBVA, was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $51 from $48 (versus a $47.77 close) at Morgan Stanley. Cisco had a consensus target price of $50.96, and its 52-week range is $31.46 to $47.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy and the price objective was cut to $81 from $91 (versus a $78.43 close) at Merrill Lynch. Its shares were indicated down 2.2% at $76.70 on Tuesday.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was maintained as Outperform but lost its Top Pick status at RBC Capital Markets.

Evercore Inc. (NYSE: EVR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $117 price target (versus a $106.15 close) at UBS.

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) was started as Sector Perform with a $60 price target (versus a $62.43 close) at Scotia.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MoffettNathanson. The stock previously closed at $175.73 a share, and it had a consensus target price of $211.03.

Gensis Energy L.P. (NYSE: GEL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $26 price target (versus a $23.93 close) at Robert W. Baird.

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ING Groep N.V. (NYSE: ING) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE: IHG) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IVII) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $54 price target (versus a $49.75 close) at B. Riley.

Mesa Air Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MESA) was started with a Strong Buy rating and assigned a $20 price target (versus a $13.79 close) at Raymond James. Stifel started the stock as Buy with a $15 price target.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was started as Buy and assigned a $74 price target (versus a $59.49 close) at Guggenheim. Roku’s previously consensus target price was $56.73. Its 52-week range is $15.75 to $64.48. After falling almost 2% on Friday, the shares were indicated up 1.7% at $60.50 on Tuesday.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was downgraded to Underperform from In Line with a $45 price target (versus a $53.54 close) at Evercore ISI. Shares were down 3.4% at $51.70 ahead of Tuesday’s market open.

Shire PLC (NASDAQ: SHPG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Sanford Bersnstein.

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Tocagen Inc. (NASDAQ: TOCA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $27 price target (versus a $9.75 close) at Citigroup. Shares were indicated up 3.5% at $10.05, and it has a 52-week range of $7.52 to $14.66.

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (NYSE: TKC), or Turkcell, was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Vaccinex Inc. (NASDAQ: VCNX) was started as Buy and assigned a $20 target price (versus a $9.99 close) at BTIG. Oppenheimer started it as Outperform with a $22 price target.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $50 from $56 (versus a $54.37 close) at Barclays. Verizon shares were indicated down 1.2% at $53.72 on Tuesday morning, and its consensus target price was $56.65.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was downgraded to In Line from Outperform with a $75 price target (versus a $63.24 close) at Evercore ISI. Western The shares were last seen down 2.1% at $61.90 ahead of Tuesday’s open, and the consensus target price was $105.56 ahead of this call.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Ambarella, Apple, Campbell Soup, Ciena, Dollar Tree, Electronic Arts, Lululemon, Signet Jewelers, Ulta many more.