Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, AMAG Pharma, Crocs, HCA, Kellogg, Kosmos Energy, Mylan, Pandora, Square and More

November 6, 2018 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks traded lower on Tuesday, and the 2018 midterm elections are finally here. Last week’s stock market bounce was handily off of the lows, but investors have seen lower upside in buying immediately after the big market pullbacks than in prior years. The investing community needs to consider how to position their investments for the rest of the year and into 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others 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, November 6, 2018.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the independent research firm lowered its price target to $115 from $130 in the call. The firm continues to expect solid growth from Humira in the United States and solid growth from Imbruvica, Venclexta Orilissa and hepatitis C drugs, and it sees long-term benefits from the company’s product pipeline.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the target price was cut to $18 from $20 at JPMorgan. The stock closed at $18.34 on Monday, and it had a consensus target price of $20.63 ahead of the call.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $73 price target (versus a $76.04 prior close) at Goldman Sachs.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $25 from $21 at Pivotal Research. Crocs closed up 2.5% at $21.01 on Monday and had a consensus analyst target price of $19.00.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: DRNA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $21 price target (versus a $12.94 close) at B. Riley.

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $155 at Argus, based on a continued outperformance ahead.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $74 from $85 (versus a $63.15 close) at Argus.

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, but the firm lowered its price target to $9 from $11 (versus a $6.29 close). The stock was indicated up almost 5% after earnings to $6.60, and its consensus target price was previously $10.31.

Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) was raised to Buy from Neutral but the price objective was lowered to $42 from $44 (versus a $31.37 close) at Merrill Lynch.

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight and the target price was lowered to $18 from $20 (versus a $27.99 close) at Barclays.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target was lowered to $9 from $11 at Canaccord Genuity.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $60 target price (versus a $47.45 close) at Longbow Research. Shake Shack was indicated up almost 1% on Tuesday, and its consensus target price was $53.90.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was set at $90 (versus a $76.23 close) at Citigroup. It was indicated up 1.8% at $76.35 early on Tuesday, with a consensus target price of $82.13.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $20 target price at Wells Fargo.

Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) was started as Buy at HSBC. Shares closed up 1.6% at $30.18 on Monday and were indicated up 0.3% at $30.28 on Tuesday. The consensus target price is $39.96.

Monday’s top analyst calls included Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Alibaba, Bluebird Bio, Chevron, Encana, Parsley Energy, Starbucks, Teva Pharmaceutical, Under Armour and many more.

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