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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Array Bio, Bank of America, Oracle, Pinterest, RingCentral, Snap, SunPower, Twilio, Xilinx and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 18, 2019 8:54 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 7:34 pm

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Tuesday after a small gain in the Dow and S&P 500 on Monday. It may be the summer, but investors need to be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the second half of 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Tuesday, June 18, 2019.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) was up over 50% on Monday after Pfizer announced that it was planning to acquire the company for over $10 billion. Array has been downgraded, effectively being removed from coverage despite a high $48 price target, by Leerink.

Anavex Life Science Corp. (NASDAQ: AVXL) was started as Buy and was assigned a $10 price target (versus $3.14 prior close) at Janney. The firm noted that its Sigma-1 receptor could become a master regulator in neurological disorders. The lead product candidate ANAVEX 2-73 is in four clinical studies for three indications (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease dementia, and Rett syndrome) The firm thinks it could represent a differentiated approach in a space that has seen repeated failures in clinical development.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $37 price target (versus $27.93 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. Bank of America was indicated up about 0.2% after the call, and it has a 52-week range of $22.66 to $31.91 and a consensus analyst target price of $33.50.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $44 from $50 (versus $43.95 prior close) at Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon has a consensus analyst target price of $49.97.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, but the firm raised its target to $25 from $22 (versus $22.60 prior close, after a 8.2% drop) in the call. Its consensus analyst target price was $17.56 and its 52-week range is $7.11 to $24.47.

Neurotrope, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRP) was started as Buy with a $14 price target (versus $6.36 prior close) at Janney. The firm noted that its Bryostatin could hold promise in Alzheimer’s Disease. and noted that Neurotrope’s bryostatin-1 is currently the only candidate in clinical development for patients with moderate to severe AD. Data from two Phase II studies and an expanded access program are said to suggest encouraging efficacy, including statistically significant improvement in cognition in a subgroup of patients who are not taking concomitant memantine treatment. Phase II complimentary data is expected to be reported in the second half of 2019 and should lead to strong stock movement if the data are positive.

Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie. The call is somewhat of a valuation call as the $53.13 closing price ahead of the call is versus a 52-week range of $42.40 to $55.53, but it is also right ahead of the earnings report. Oracle has a consensus analyst target price of $53.41.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $33 price target (versus $27.85 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The social media platform is said to have high commercial intent, and the analyst sees Pinterest as fundamentally different than other social media platforms where users typically come to share news and experiences with friends/global community because users come to the site for discovery and idea generation and are often in various stages of the commercial intent funnel. The firm expects 43% revenue growth to $1.1 billion in 2019 and 37% revenue growth to $1.5 billion in 2020.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm noting that Eylea threats are mounting. It closed up almost 2% at $310.98 on Monday and has a consensus analyst target price of $392.00.

RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was started as Buy and was assigned a $140 price target (versus $116.95 close) at Needham & Co. RingCentral has a consensus analyst target price of $134.06 and a 52-week range of $64.41 to $127.00.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was down 3% at $13.55 on Monday but was indicated up over 3% at $14.00 on Tuesday morning after BTIG raised its target to $20 from $15 in the call, noting the belief that Snap’s user growth and revenue/EBITDA expectations by analysts are too low while many investors also continue to ignore that Snap’s recovery due to its credibility issues from the first two years of being public. Snap shares are up close to 150% so far in 2019, and the consensus analyst target price is $11.56.

SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $11 price target (versus $8.28 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. SunPower was indicated up 6% at $8.78 on the news, versus a 52-week range of $4.55 to $8.61 and versus a consensus analyst target price of $6.76.

SunRun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus $17.09 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. SunRun was indicated up 4% at $17.85 and the consensus analyst target price was already $20.05.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. TDS closed down 0.3% at $29.22 on Monday, and it has a consensus analyst target price of $37.40 and a 52-week range of $24.00 to $37.29.

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Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) was started as Buy and was assigned a $165 target price (versus $140.71 prior close) at Needham & Co. Twilio was indicated up over 2% at $144.00 and has a consensus analyst target price of $146.59 and a 52-week range of $53.17 to $148.80.

United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. It closed up 1% at $44.18 ahead of the call and has a $52.60 consensus analyst target price. US Celluar also has a 52-week range of $32.33 to $59.74 and a $3.8 billion market cap.

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was maintained as Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, but the price target was cut to $130 from $145 in the call. Xilinx closed down almost 1% at $104.53 ahead of the call, with a 52-week range of $64.15 to $141.60.

Merrill Lynch has 5 defensive stocks it has with Buy ratings and high dividends for investors worried about the summer doldrums.

Raymond James issued a cautious homebuilder note:

• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform.
• Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform .

Monday’s top analyst calls were in shares of DBV Tech, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Deere, Dow, GNC, Kinder Morgan, Mosaic, Symantec, Walt Disney and many more.