Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, AIG, CareDx, Coca-Cola, General Dynamics, Harvard Bio, LogMeIn, TrueCar, WorkDay and More

February 15, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher again on Friday, but the Dow Jones industrial average is up over 2,700 points from its lows seen at the start of January. Now investors need to be considering how they want their assets positioned for 2019 and beyond.

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 were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, February 15, 2019.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen. Shares closed at $260.14 in a 52-week range of $199.18 to $277.61. The consensus target price is $289.52.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $56 from $44 at Compass Point. AIG closed down 9% at $40.19 on Thursday’s post-earnings reaction, and it has a 52-week range of $36.16 to $61.36 and a consensus target price of $51.43.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE: B) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Shares closed at $60.29, in a 52-week range of $49.06 to $72.70. The consensus target price is $66.50.

CareDx Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $35 price target (versus a $23.99 prior close) at Jefferies.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight but the target price was lowered to $10 from $14 at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed down almost 3% at $8.76 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $6.60 to $17.60 and with a consensus target price of $12.63.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. Shares closed down 8.4% at $45.59 on Thursday’s post-earnings reaction. Coca-Cola has a 52-week range of $41.45 to $50.84, and it previously had a consensus target price of $51.88.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the target price was lowered to $184 from $190 at Credit Suisse. The stock closed down 0.8% at $172.10 on Thursday and was indicated down another 0.7% at $170.90 on Friday morning. The 52-week range is $143.87 to $230.00, and the consensus target price is $201.39.

GEO Group Inc. (NYSE: GEO) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the target price was lowered to $26 from $27 (versus a $22.93 close) at JPMorgan.

Harvard Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ: HBIO) was reiterated as Buy with an $8 price target (versus a $3.72 close) at Janney, with the firm calling it the deepest value in small-cap life science tools with high earnings visibility and P/E multiples valued at about one-half of peer levels. The 52-week trading range is $2.75 to $6.70.


Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities. Shares closed at $26.10. The 52-week range is $11.31 to $31.58 and the consensus target price is $36.70.

Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was lowered to $3 from $5 (versus a $3.85 close) at MKM Partners. The consensus analyst target is $5.51.

LogMeIn Inc. (NASDAQ: LOGM) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer. It was indicated down 17% at $79.00 after earnings and guidance and has a 52-week range of $74.87 to $129.94. The prior consensus target price was $104.00.

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) was started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Shares closed at $72.85. The 52-week range is $24.65 to $73.74 and the consensus target price is $65.22.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho. Shares closed at $183.76, in a 52-week range of $145.78 to $191.49. The consensus target price is $197.11.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $8.11. The 52-week range is $6.90 to $15.38. The consensus target price is $15.82.

Tempur Sealy International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim, while Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and $65 price target.

TrueCar Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUE) was up almost 1.8% at $10.24 before missing earnings and revenue estimates, but it was last seen down 19.5% at $8.25 on Friday morning. RBC Capital Markets downgraded it to Sector Perform from Outperform, and B. Riley FBR shares to Neutral From Buy. The 52-week trading range is $8.03 to $14.55.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. (NYSE: TNP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed at $3.46 a share, in a 52-week range of $2.56 to $3.99. Its consensus target price is $4.50.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $225 from $160 (versus a $188.54 close) at Cowen. The shares have a 52-week range of $117.24 to $193.08 and a consensus target price of $163.86.

Warren Buffett and his portfolio managers made some interesting changes for the Berkshire Hathaway public equity holdings. Here are the top Warren Buffett stocks for 2019.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included CenturyLink, Chimera, Comerica, Dish Network, Exxon Mobil, NetApp, Pulte, Petrobras, Teva Pharmaceutical, Yelp and many more.

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