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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Anadarko, Apple, Charter, Disney, Geron, KLA-Tencor, PVH, SAP, US Steel and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 9, 2019 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 10:20 pm

Stocks were looking at a softer open on Tuesday after a very mixed bag on Monday when the Dow Jones industrials closed down with Boeing’s drag but while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher. The major market indexes are still up double-digit percentages year to date and the S&P 500 is still within striking distance of all-time highs. Investors need to be considering how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily 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 Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $65 price target (versus a $47.19 prior close) at Citigroup.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $225 from $215 at Wedbush Securities, with the firm noting that calm is being restored after months of turbulence and that its China installed base will be key for its success going forward. Apple closed up 1.5% at $200.10 a share on Monday, and it had a consensus target price of $190.94 on last look.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie. After closing up 0.7% at $354.14 on Monday, the shares were indicated down about 1% at $350.62, with a consensus target price of $389.26.

Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $138 price target (versus a $112.00 close) at Citigroup.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was started as Buy and assigned a $120 price target (versus a $99.48 close) at Citigroup.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS) was started as Outperform and assigned a $137 price target (versus a $113.65 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Needham, and the $3 price target compared with a $1.84 close. Shares were indicated up almost 6% at $1.95.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was started with a Sell rating and assigned a $107 price target (versus a $124.72 close) at Goldman Sachs. It was indicated down 1% at $123.45, and the consensus target price was $127.18.

PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI) was raised to Buy from Neutral and was added to the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs, noting that the growth will outpace Wall Street’s consensus expectations.

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Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $180 price target (versus $151.72 close) at Citigroup.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) was started as Overweight with a $164 price target (versus a $127.40 close) at Morgan Stanley.

SAP A.G. (NYSE: SAP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, with the firm noting that the enterprise software provider’s acquisition of Qualtrics will not transform SAP’s near-term prospects and that SAP’s gross margin targets may fall short.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price target was cut down to $13 from $21 at Credit Suisse, as the firm sees the company being in a weakened competitive position in a tough industry.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen, with the firm making the call ahead of its investor day, which is expected to be a deck-clearing event for positive sentiment despite concerns about the leverage after the recent acquisition of Fox assets and on Disney’s direct-to-consumer offerings.

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Monday’s top analyst calls included AEP, Boeing, Dollar Tree, General Electric, Micron Technology, NextEra Energy, Procter & Gamble, Roku, Snap, Starbucks, Tesla, Wynn Resorts and many more.