Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Amarin, Apple, AutoNation, BlackRock, E*Trade, Etsy, Kellogg, PG&E and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: November 14, 2018 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 2:54 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Wednesday, but this is a day after the gap-up open failed to hold by the end of Tuesday and after a 602 Dow Jones industrials point sell-off on Monday. Investors have faced numerous waves of selling in 2018, and they also have seen lower upside after buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years. Now is the time for investors to start considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for 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 of these 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 Wednesday, November 14, 2018.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was maintained as Overweight and the price target was lowered to $1,500 from $1,515 at Morgan Stanley. Alphabet closed at $1,047.97 on Tuesday, with a consensus target price of $1,352.05.

Amarin Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: AMRN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. The stock was down 22% at $15.38 on Tuesday, in a 52-week trading range of $34.80.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. The firm lowered earnings and revenue estimates for 2019 as it sees average selling price increases not being enough to offset the declining iPhone unit sales, a trend that has been pointed out by other analysts as well.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) was reiterated as Underweight and the target price was lowered to $34 from $44 at Morgan Stanley. The consensus target price is $44.00, and the 52-week range is $37.64 to $62.02.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) was maintained as Overweight and the target price was lowered to $514 from $554 at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed at $407.31 a share, in a 52-week range of $376.31.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that the stock is undervalued compared to its growth potential. E*Trade has a 52-week range of $43.21 to $66.46, and it has a consensus target price of $62.33.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was started with a Buy rating at BTIG, which also assigned a $59 price target. Shares closed down 6.6% at $47.35 on Tuesday, and they have a consensus target price of $53.20 and a 52-week trading range of $16.13 to $55.71.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Credit Suisse maintained it as Neutral and lowered the target price to $66 from $70. Kellogg closed at $63.42 a share on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $56.40 to $74.98 and with a consensus target price of $69.89.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) down almost 1% at $32.72 on Tuesday, but this followed two big drops due to exposure to wildfires in California. PG&E was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Edward Jones. It has a 52-week trading range of $24.95 to $56.90, and it has a consensus target price of $53.60.

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen this Wednesday are shown below:

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) was reiterated as Overweight and the target was raised to $76 from $72 at Morgan Stanley.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm citing a muddier outlook.

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American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was lowered to $22 from $24 at Mizuho.

Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Aramark Corp. (NYSE: ARMK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

AxoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: AXGN) was started with a Neutral rating at BTIG.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $155 price target at Bernstein.

Carlyle Group L.P. (NASDAQ: CG) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

CEMEX SAB de C.V. (NYSE: CX) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $6 price target (versus a $4.97 prior close) at UBS.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was maintained as Overweight and the price target was lowered to $60 from $66 at Morgan Stanley.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was maintained as Overweight but the target was lowered to $153 from $166 at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $127.57 and have a consensus target price of $153.40.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at CIBC.

Edison International Inc. (NYSE: EIX) was downgraded to Sell From Hold by Edward Jones.

Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR), the newer name for the merged Coach and Kate Spade, was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. It was indicated down 3.9% at $32.30 on Wednesday after the call, with a prior consensus target price of $43.71.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Best Buy, Chesapeake Energy, Comcast, Cree, EverQuote, KeyCorp, Lumentum, Nvidia, Vodafone, Xilinx and many more.