24/7 Wall St.

Earnings season has brought a very mixed bag, with some key companies having big wins and others bad misses. The markets have dealt with the Mueller testimony and have just seen the European Central Bank maintain interest rates despite some weakness. With the markets basically at all-time highs, investors have many reasons to remain cautious but also should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, July 25, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed up 2.1% at $46.86, in a 52-week range of $39.85 to $84.68. The consensus target price is $52.36.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform and the target price was lowered to $220 from $340 at Evercore ISI.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $35 from $34 at Raymond James. Credit Suisse upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform. Shares closed up 3.6% at $33.24, in a 52-week range of $26.80 to $34.37. The consensus target price is $34.38.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research. Shares closed down 4.5% at $131.91. The 52-week range is $112.06 to $159.37, and the consensus target price is $146.39.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed up 1.4% at $139.15, in a 52-week range of $96.37 to $145.06. The consensus target price is $140.24.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed up 1.8% at $89.78, in a 52-week range of $73.91 to $148.00. The consensus analyst target is $111.79.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $79 target price at BTIG.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $235 from $225 at Nomura/Instinet. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $250 from $230. Citigroup and Deutsche Bank each reiterated its Buy rating, with the target raised to $240 from $212 at the former and to $234 from $230 at the latter. KeyBanc reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $240 from $220. Shares closed up 1.1% at $204.66, in a 52-week range of $123.02 to $205.47. The consensus target price is $223.19.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform and the target price was raised to $14 from $12 at RBC Capital Markets. Shares closed up 2.5% at $11.94, in a 52-week range of $9.47 to $16.62. The consensus target price is $13.64.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $17 from $14 at Barclays, Wedbush Securities and Credit Suisse each downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform.

RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Gabelli.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $320 from $270 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) was downgraded to Hold and the target price was lowered to $55 from $79 at Deutsche Bank. Evercore ISI downgraded it to In-Line from Outperform and cut the target to $58 from $75. Shares closed up 2.5% at $55.05. The 52-week range is $41.98 to $65.35. The consensus target price is $67.94.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) was reiterated as Strong Buy and the price target was raised to $180 from $172 at Raymond James. Shares closed up 2.4% at $152.34, in a 52-week range of $103.29 to $198.99. The consensus target price is $167.96.

Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER) was downgraded to Hold from Buy but the price target was raised to $53 from $52 at Stifel.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was slammed after earnings, and Barclays has an Underweight rating and maintained its $150 target price. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Buy rating on Tesla but lowered its target to $350 from $395. Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Neutral rating on Tesla but cut its target to $270 from $300. Shares closed up 1.8% at $264.88, in a 52-week range of $176.99 to $387.46. The consensus target price is $263.55.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VNDA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $172 from $132 at Deutsche Bank.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $140 from $130 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Shares closed up 3.8% at $132.14, in a 52-week range of $68.76 to $141.60. The consensus target price is $127.66.

Zacks has named Sketchers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) as its Bull of the Day, saying that this footwear purveyor has big momentum after reporting record sales and a big earnings beat. The Bear of the Day is Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN). Zacks noted that earnings estimates are falling fast at this provider of residential solar energy systems.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Akamai Technologies, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Hasbro, Kimberly-Clark, Rio Tinto, Sherwin-Williams, Snap, Texas Instruments, United Continental, United Technologies, Visa and many more.

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