Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Boston Scientific, Etsy, GE, Morgan Stanley, SeaWorld, Skechers, Shopify, Square, Tesla and More
October 2, 2018 8:55 am
Last Updated: January 11, 2020 5:02 pm
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:
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