Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Biogen, Broadcom, Citigroup, Equifax, Fitbit, Intel, Kraft Heinz, Merck, Roku, Under Armour, UTC, Zillow and More

Investing

Published: February 22, 2019 8:52 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:21 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher by over 100 points on the Dow Jones industrial average and 10 points on the S&P 500 on developing China trade hopes. With the Dow up more than 3,000 points from its lows of early January, investors need to be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort 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 22, 2019.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) closed down 1.8% at $11.94 ahead of Thursday’s earnings, and shares were last seen trading down almost 14% at $10.30 on Friday morning. Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, and KeyBanc Capital Markets lowered its rating to Sector Weight from Overweight.

Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI) closed down one cent at $14.60 ahead of earnings, but the shares were down 12.6% at $12.75 on Friday morning. The stock was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson and to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was started with a Market Perform rating and assigned a $322 price target (versus a $321.17 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. Also, Guggenheim downgraded it to Neutral from Buy with a $325 price target, down from a prior target of $410.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen. After closing down 0.9% at $280.94, its shares were marginally higher at $281.26 despite the call. Broadcom’s consensus target price is $292.07.

Cambrex Corp. (NYSE: CBM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was slashed to $43 from $63 (versus a $40.19 close, after a 5% gain) at Jefferies.

CBOE Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) was started with a Hold rating at Argus.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $73 from $64 at Jefferies. The stock closed down 0.5% at $64.32 ahead of the call, and its shares were indicated up 1% at $65.00 on Friday morning. The consensus target price is $76.81.

CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $58 from $56 (versus a $53.41 close) at Argus.

Dine Brands Global Inc. (NYSE: DIN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $135 price target (versus a $99.49 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $130 from $125 (versus a $110.49 close) at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that the company offered achievable 2019 guidance and what is considered a credible path to business normalization.

Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL) was started as Market Perform with a $23 target price (versus a $21.22 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush as the shares have reached the firm’s $6.50 price target with no new information on the MedTech opportunity.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.