Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Best Buy, Eli Lilly, Hilton, Hyatt, Kraft Heinz, Procter & Gamble, Snap and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 24, 2019 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 9:42 pm

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Wednesday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq crossed over all-time highs on Tuesday. With double-digit gains already seen so far in 2019, investors need to consider 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. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but 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 Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $234 from $220 (versus a $207.48 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. Apple’s consensus target price is $193.12, and the 52-week trading range is $142.00 to $233.47.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $88 from $72 at Jefferies.

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) was raised to Buy from Hold at Edward Jones.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. After closing down 2% at $38.92, shares were indicated down another 2.6% at $37.90 on Wednesday morning.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform but the price target was raised to $90 from $88 (versus an $87.91 close) at Wells Fargo.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with an $80 price target (versus a $76.56 close) at Wells Fargo.

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy but the price target was raised to $30 from $25 (versus a $28.12 close) at Raymond James.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the price target was lowered to $31 from $35 (versus a $33.10 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $112 price target (versus a $103.16 close) at Barclays.

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PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was raised to Neutral from Sell at BTIG Research.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was last seen up 2.5% at $12.30 after earnings. Nomura/Instinet maintained its Neutral rating but raised the price target to $10 from $9. Wedbush Securities maintained its Neutral rating with a $12.25 target, noting that it had recently downgraded the stock after a rally and viewing it as fully valued. JPMorgan raised Snap to Neutral from Underweight, and Evercore ISI raised it to In-Line from Underperform.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was maintained as Overweight but the price target was lowered to $84 from $88 at Morgan Stanley.

Teleflex Inc. (NYSE: TFX) was downgraded to Buy from Strong Buy at Needham.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH) was raised to Strong Buy from Buy with a $155 price target (versus a $122.76 close) at Needham.

Check out the 15 top dividend stocks all retirees should consider owning in 2019.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Arista Networks, BHP, Crocs, Digital Realty, HCA Healthcare, Kimberly-Clark, Lyft, Qualcomm, Roku and many more.