Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Applied Materials, Bluebird Bio, JD.com, Marvell, Rambus, Tilray, Zillow and More

Investing

Published: May 15, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 8:47 pm

Stocks have tried to find somewhere to settle this week in the wake of a tariff tit-for-tat between the United States and China. Stocks were indicated to open lower by about 0.4% on the three major indexes. Investors have seen multiple reasons that might magnify the “sell in May and go away” mindset. The markets are also still quite close to all-time highs. It’s time for investors to consider how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of 2019.

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 15, 2019.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $1,400 from $1,300 at Deutsche Bank, with the firm talking up a better advertising product group from the coming Google Marketing live conference making its 2020 estimates solid. The stock closed up 1% at $1,124.86, and the consensus target price was $1,341.82.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was raised to Positive from Neutral and the price target was raised to $60 from $34 (versus a $40.01 prior close, after a 2.35% gain) at Susquehanna. It has a consensus target price of $47.75, and its 52-week trading range is $28.79 to $55.46.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was lowered to $131 from $166 (versus a $126.68 close) at Wedbush Securities. The call was after attending its Analyst Day in New York, as there are risks to the Zynteglo (LentiGlobin) launch that could overshadow the company’s broad pipeline.

Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink. After closing up 0.5% at $67.31, its shares were indicated down 1.2% at $66.50. Its prior consensus target price was $66.93.

JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Nomura/Instinet. Shares closed up 5.3% at $29.67 ahead of the call and were indicated up only marginally on Wednesday morning. The prior consensus target price was $31.55.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was started with a Market Perform rating at Wells Fargo, after it closed up 3.4% at $22.89. It has a consensus target price of $26.68.

MaxLinear Inc. (NYSE: MXL) was started with a Market Perform rating at Wells Fargo, after it closed up 1.8% at $24.33. The consensus target price was $26.75.

OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OMF) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was lowered to $35 (versus a $33.17 prior close) at Wedbush. Shares closed at $33.17, in a 52-week range of $22.47 to $37.29 and with a consensus price target of $41.00.

Owens-Illinois Inc. (NYSE: OI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $24 from $20 (versus a $17.21 close) at Wells Fargo. Shares closed at $17.21, in a 52-week range of $15.67 to $20.78, and with a consensus price target of $20.69.