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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alkermes, Alphabet, Apple, Conoco, FireEye, Lyft, McDonald's, RBS, Seagate, Shopify and More
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Stocks were indicated to open higher on the first day of trading in May, with the Dow Jones industrial average’s 90-point gain being mostly driven by Apple’s post-earnings surge. The major market indexes are up strong year to date, with gains of about 14% for the Dow and up over 17% for the S&P 500. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have even hit new all-time highs. The question for investors now is what to look forward to rather than looking at the past. Every investor should 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. Our goal is to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but other reports 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, May 1, 2019.
Before getting into the analyst calls of the day, note that there is a reason that the “Sell in May and Go Away!” theme could be louder in 2019.
Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $33 from $62 (versus a $30.32 prior close) at Citigroup. Shares were indicated down 1.8% at $29.76 on Wednesday after the call.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was down 7.5% at $1,198.96 after earnings on Tuesday and was indicated marginally lower on Wednesday. Argus reiterated Alphabet as Buy with a $1,450 price target, noting that the recent weakness offers a buying opportunity.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed down 1.9% at $200.67 ahead of earnings on Tuesday, but after a beat-and-raise quarter it was last seen up 5.5% at $211.50 in Wednesday’s early trading. Wedbush Securities reiterated the stock as Outperform with a $235 price target, with the firm talking up China and a healthy upcoming product cycle. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and raised the target price to $245 from $230. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $240 from $235. Credit Suisse remained with a Neutral rating and $209 price target. Apple’s consensus target price was $202.77 ahead of earnings.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, but the firm kept its target static at $75. The call also downplayed the thought that the company would make a large acquisition and indicated the stock is trading at a large discount to peers.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed down 5.5% at $31.85 on Tuesday with earnings, but they were indicated up 2% at $32.50 on Wednesday. The consensus target price is $36.83.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $200 from $180 (versus a $184.08 close) at Argus, with the independent research firm calling it a consistent industrial performer after a dividend hike.
Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was maintained as Neutral with an $18 price target at Wedbush, with the firm noting that billings grew but were not recurring and that a transition here is a long process. Shares closed up 1.3% at $16.02 on Tuesday ahead of earnings, and they were indicated down 3.3% at $15.50 after the report.
24/7 Wall St.Hudson Ltd. (NYSE: HUD) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that its core duty paid remains healthy and that expectations are now lower.
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.
Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with a Buy rating at a firm called Tigress Financial. After closing down 1.3% at $59.80, the stock was indicated up 0.8% at $60.25 in early indications on Wednesday.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow Research. Merrill Lynch reiterated McDonald’s as Buy and raised the price objective to $215 from $200. The stock closed up 0.2% at $197.57 after earnings on Tuesday and was indicated down 0.6% at $196.25 on Wednesday.
Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: NUS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Shares closed up 2.5% at $82.59 ahead of this call, and the consensus target price was $83.00.
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was started as Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. Its American depositary shares closed up 0.5% at $6.39 on Tuesday and were indicated down 0.3% at $6.37 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $4.98 to $8.14.
Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ: SABR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, while William Blair downgraded it to Market Perform from Outperform. Shares closed down 9.2% at $20.76 ahead of the call, but they were indicated up 1.6% at $21.10 afterward.
SBA Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: SBAC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) closed up 7.5% at $48.32 on Tuesday’s post-earnings reaction, with a consensus target price of $45.16 and a 52-week trading range of $35.38 to $60.01. Benchmark raised it to Buy from Hold.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was up almost 8% at $243.53 in Tuesday’s post-earnings reaction. Wedbush reiterated it as Outperform with a $270 target price, noting that the online merchant services provider is firing on all cylinders and that there are large opportunities ahead for Shopify Plus and for international expansion.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $113 price target (versus a $96.83 close) at Cowen.
Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) was started as Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.
Jefferies sees four top U.S. growth stocks as solid buys, which also happen to be some of the better-known technology leaders.
Merrill Lynch sees three deeply entrenched global growth stocks offering more than double the normal upside seen for most S&P 500 analyst Buy ratings.
Investors may want to expect that Warren Buffett might buy more banking stocks rather than doing large share buybacks at all-time market highs.
Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Alphabet, Bank of America, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cognex, Disney, Dollar General, SAP, Southwest Airlines, Western Digital, Yum China and many more.
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