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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Caterpillar, Costco, Chipotle, eBay, Groupon, Honeywell, Mastercard, Newmont Goldcorp, Roku, Zoetis and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 9, 2019 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 4:30 pm

Stocks have magically recovered in the past week to where the S&P 500 is back to within 2% of its all-time high, and the major indexes are all up in the double-digits in 2019. With all the volatility swings in the stock market, and considering that the bull market is well over 10 years old, investors should be considering what changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or 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 and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Monday, September 9, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $65 from $57 (versus a $54.58 prior close) at Stifel.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $39 from $37 (versus a $32.57 close) at Citigroup. Stephens upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its target to $44 from $37.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform with a $245 target price (versus a $213.26 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm talked up the iPhone refresh, with a professional version and a total of 180 million new iPhones of all models combined that can be sold in fiscal year 2020.

Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $52 from $51 (versus a $50.37 close) at Citigroup.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was maintained as Buy but the price objective was lowered to $145 from $150 (versus a $122.70 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $980 from $780 at Wedbush. The firm noted that Chipotle is back in the pole position when the industry is adapting to challenges around digital real estate that could help it see a multiyear streak of mid- to high-single-digit same-store sales growth.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $333 from $271 (versus a $303.76 close) at JPMorgan. Costco had a prior consensus target price of $281.78.

Covetrus Inc. (NASDAQ: CVET) was started with a Sell rating and assigned a $13.36 target price (versus a $13.36 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was reiterated as Neutral but its target price was lowered to $138 from $144 (versus a $146.44 close) at Citigroup.

Domo Inc. (NASDAQ: DOMO) fell over 37% to $14.77 a share on Friday after adjusting its revenue growth and as it continues to have a hard time defining its mission. UBS maintained its Neutral rating but slashed its target to $18 from $28.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $114 from $113 (versus a $95.14 close) at Citigroup.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $48 from $40 (versus a $40.37 close) at Citigroup.

Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that enterprises flooded in data need the search stack from this Google of Big Data growing sales at 50%. Shares most recently closed at $88.79 and have a consensus price target of $107.50.

Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) was raised to Buy from Underperform with a $48 target price (versus $40.64 prior close) at Merrill Lynch. Energizer already had a consensus target price of $48.73.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was reiterated as Neutral with a $3.50 target price (versus a $2.54 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that Groupon is in a sensitive time wherein it has to hit its targets and while it is also losing customers or seeing stagnant use by its customers.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $198 from $189 (versus a $171.16 close) at Citigroup.

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $277 target price (versus a $288.47 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $70 target price at Deutsche Bank. Shares previously closed up 0.1% at $56.19 and were indicated up 1.7% at $57.18 after the call. The prior consensus target price was $70.41.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the retailer has continued to disappoint shareholders and investors alike, with its stock down about 50% year to date. Shares of Macy’s last closed at $15.39, with a consensus price target of $18.53.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was reiterated with a Buy rating and its target price was raised to $317 from $288 (versus a $291.38 close) at Citigroup.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $800 from $575 (versus a $597.79 close) at HSBC. The consensus target price was $676.06.

Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $24 target price (versus a $19.38 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with a $45 target price (versus a $38.66 close, after a 1.7% drop) at RBC Capital Markets. The prior consensus target price was $45.86, and the 52-week trading range is $29.06 to $41.23.

Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX) was raised to Positive from Negative and the price target was launched to $45 from $23 (versus a $23.96 close) at Susquehanna. Shares were indicated up 6% at $25.40, and the prior consensus target price was $33.72.

Pure Storage Inc. (NYSE: PSTG) was raised to Positive from Neutral and the price target was raised to $25 from $16 (versus a $17.11 close) at Susquehanna. Shares were indicated up 4% at $17.85, and the prior consensus target price was $19.10.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was maintained as Hold at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, but the firm raised its target price to $160 from $63 in the catch-up call. Roku closed up 1.7% at $169.86, and its prior consensus target price was $123.20.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was reiterated as Neutral and its target price was lowered to $34 from $41 (versus a $34.20 close) at JPMorgan.

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Simply Good Foods Co. (NASDAQ: SMPL) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $35 target price (versus a $29.89 close) at Wells Fargo. The consensus target price was $29.00.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) closed down 0.7% at $37.06 on Friday and was indicated down 2.2% at $36.22 on Monday after disclosing a $25 million hit from Hurricane Dorian. Buckingham Research downgraded it to Neutral and cut the target price to $41 from $69. Cowen maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target to $51 from $60.

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) was started with a Buy rating and was added to the Conviction Buy list with a $145 target price (versus a $128.43 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AGCO, American Airlines, Bank of America, Beyond Meat, Ciena, DocuSign, Domo, Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, HCA Healthcare, Lululemon Athletica, Zoom Video and many more.