Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Best Buy, Biogen, Booking, China Mobile, Chipotle, CNOOC, Kinder Morgan, Lumentum, MongoDB, Nike and More

March 22, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday, giving back most of the prior day’s FOMC-delayed reaction rally. Now that the stock market has recovered so much in 2019, investors need to be considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary and trading data have been added on some of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, March 22, 2019.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was raised to Outperform from Perform with an $86 price target at Oppenheimer. Shares closed up 2.1% at $70.56 on Thursday and were indicated up another 1.5% at $71.60 early on Friday. Its consensus target price is $76.64, and its 52-week trading range is $47.72 to $84.37.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded by several firms on Thursday after dropping more than 29% to $226.88 because the company bombed out on its Alzheimer’s late-stage studies. Canaccord Genuity downgraded it to Hold from Buy and cut the price target to $275 from $396. Citigroup and UBS also downgraded Biogen, to Neutral from Buy, after the big drop, and Morgan Stanley lowered its rating to Underweight from Overweight.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $1,850 price target (versus a $1,774.36 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) was downgraded to Outperform from Buy at CLSA. This is on the heels of a 5% drop to $52.90, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $43.25 to $55.84.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price target was raised to $640 from $500 (versus a $670.45 close) at Wedbush, with the sub-consensus view noting that there are now a lack of negative catalysts. The shares were last seen up more than 50% year to date alone, as well as up over 100% from its 52-week low.

CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) was downgraded to Buy from Outperform at CSLA.

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie. Its shares closed up 8% at $17.37 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $15.23 to $24.95 and with a consensus target price of $20.20.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG) was maintained as Neutral but the price target as raised to $27 from $24 at Credit Suisse. The firm noted that its profit growth and Pinnacle will allay fears while the sales slippage continues to raise questions.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS) was rated as Outperform but was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush, and the prior $110 price target was raised to $140 (versus a $110.16 close). The firm noted the WorldPay acquisition will keep it competing strongly against the Fiserve and First Data combination.


Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Shares closed up 1.6% at $20.42 on Thursday but were indicated down 1.2% at $20.16 on Friday. The consensus target price was $21.47, and the 52-week trading range is $14.62 to $20.44. With other strong oil and gas performers recovering handily, Kinder Morgan was already up 34%, including the dividend payment, so far in 2019.

Linde PLC (NYSE: LIN) was started with a Hold rating at Argus. The independent research firm noted that the successor to Linde/Praxair is likely to face challenges from slower global economic growth in 2019.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the target price was raised to $65 from $50 (versus a $52.10 close) at JPMorgan. Shares were indicated up 3.5% at $53.95 ahead of the open, and the consensus target price was $64.13.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB) was started as Outperform at William Blair, and that is after a post-earnings rise recently and also after a 7.6% gain to $154.64. Its shares are now handily above the consensus as the stock had blown through so many analyst upside targets. The market cap is now $8.4 billion.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was up 1.5% at $88.01 ahead of earnings but down 4.9% at $83.70 in early indications afterward. The stock was maintained as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm lowered its estimates and its target price, down to $97 from $100. Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating with a $96 price target, noting that the drop seemed overly dramatic. The shares have a 52-week range of $63.21 to $88.59, and the consensus target price was $89.85.

Orchard Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ORTX) was reiterated as Outperform with a $25 price target (versus a $17.00 close) at Wedbush. The firm said it remains a uniquely de-risked gene therapy company.

PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was reiterated as Buy with a $44 target price at Argus.

Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research.

After one major biotech implosion in Alzheimer’s drug failure caused a multi-billion-dollar implosion, one Buy-rated speculative microcap stock may be perceived as an Alzheimer’s winner by default.

A new actively managed ETF by BlackRock is being launched and looks like a hedge fund blended with a machine trader.

Thursday’s top analyst calls were in shares of Apple, ConocoPhillips, Internap, Micron Technology, Steelcase, Vulcan Materials, Wipro and many more.

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