Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Boston Scientific, Etsy, GE, Morgan Stanley, SeaWorld, Skechers, Shopify, Square, Tesla and More
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Stocks were taking a breather on Tuesday, but that is after the Canada trade deal sent the Dow Jones industrials up about 190 points and the S&P 500 up over 10 points. While the U.S. indexes are effectively at all-time highs, many investors have seen lower upside from buying on market pullbacks than in prior years. Now the investing community has to consider how to position their investments for the rest of 2018 and into 2019.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but 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 are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $48 from $38 (versus a $38.98 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. Boston Scientific has a 52-week trading range of $24.54 to $39.42, and that 52-week high was seen on Monday. It also had a consensus price target of $39.64.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $180 from $165 (versus a $157.40 close) at UBS. It has a 52-week range of $125.74 to $159.92, and its consensus price target was $155.11 ahead of this call.
Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $59 from $51 (versus a $49.96 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The 52-week range is $15.27 to $53.25, and the consensus price target was $50.20.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was up 7% at $12.09 on Monday after the firing of CEO John Flannery. Now RBC Capital Markets raised GE to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised the price target to $15 from $13. The 52-week range is $11.21 to $24.89, and the consensus target price was $16.40.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC. Morgan Stanley closed at $46.63 a share on Monday and was indicated down 0.6% at $46.35 on Tuesday. It also has a consensus target price of $59.46 and a 52-week trading range of $46.28 to $59.38.
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $37 from $35 at Stifel. Janney also reiterated its Buy rating, and raised its target price to $38 From $31. SeaWorld closed down 4.5% at $30.00 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $10.42 to $32.47.
Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. The stock closed down 2.2% at $27.31 on Monday and was indicated down another 2.2% at $26.70 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $23.80 to $43.08, and the consensus target price is $32.45.
Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $115 from $75 (versus a $97.28 close, after a 1.75% drop) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Square had a consensus target of $77.64 and a 52-week range of $29.37 to $101.15.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was up 17% at $310.70 on Monday after Elon Musk settled with the SEC. Citigroup maintained it as Sell but raised the price target to $258 from $225. The consensus target price is closer to $310, and the 52-week trading range is $244.59 to $387.46.
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Other top analyst upgrades, downgrades, initiations, and reiterated calls are included below:
AquaVenture Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: WAAS) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy and the price target was kept at $22 (versus a $17.51 close, after a 3.1% drop) at Raymond James.
At Home Group Inc. (NYSE: HOME) was raised to Buy From Neutral but the price target was lowered to $39 from $41 (versus a $31.04 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $160 price target (versus a $150.74 close) at Jefferies.
BIO-Techne Corp. (NASDAQ: TECH) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $230 from $210 (versus a $203.80 close) at Argus.
Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $158 from $146 (versus a $145.35 close) at Oppenheimer.
Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX) was started as Neutral and was given a $57 target price (versus a $56.68 close) at D.A. Davidson.
Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. (NYSE: AQUA) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform and the price target was kept at $26 (versus a $17.75 close) at Raymond James.
Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Shares closed at $56.49 and have a consensus analyst target of $58.43.
Hubspot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was started as Buy with a $182 price target (versus a $149.72 close) at Jefferies.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy but the price target was raised to $141 from $126 at Raymond James.
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) was started as Hold with a $75 price target at Jefferies.
Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY) was started as Hold and assigned an $88 price target (versus a $78.85 close) at Jefferies.
Ryanair PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was maintained as Overweight at Barclays, but its estimates were cut after shares of the European air carrier fell 15% after an earnings warning.
ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SERV) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed down almost 2% at $40.75 on Monday and was indicated down 2.9% at $39.55 on Tuesday.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Buy with a $240 price target (versus a $194.61 close) at Jefferies.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was started as Hold with a $175 price target (versus a $163.42 close) at Jefferies.
Ultimate Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTI) was started as Buy and assigned a $370 price target (versus a $320.71 close) at Jefferies.
Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) was started as Buy and assigned an $82 price target (versus a $69.20 close) at Jefferies.
Wedbush showed a refresh of its Top Ideas List, and four of them have two to three times the normal expected upside of most analyst stocks with Buy and Outperform ratings.
Monday’s top analyst calls were in Amgen, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Lam Research, Netgear, Teva Pharmaceutical, Western Digital and many more.
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