Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, AT&T, BofA, BlackBerry, Boeing, Citigroup, Cloudflare, DocuSign, Lululemon, Marvell, Pinterest, Verizon and More

monsitj / Getty Images

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday morning on positive trade talks and international market strength. The Dow Jones industrial average was set to open up 0.5% or so and near 27,400 that would get it to an all-time after the S&P 500 hit all-time highs last seek. It is increasingly evident that those imminent recession calls by the media have been proven very wrong. Still, investors have a lot of negative issues and other types of changes to consider at a time when the current bull market is well over 10 years old. Investors should be considering what changes they should make in 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 some calls 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 sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Monday, November 4, 2019.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was down 0.15 at $176.46 on Friday and was indicated up 2.2% at $180.40 on Monday. JPMorgan reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target price to $235 from $230.

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the favorite big-data analytics engine of the Global 2000 just delivered 65% sales growth into a $24 billion total addressable market. The shares most recently closed at $99.28, with a consensus price target of $129.33.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET) was maintained as Neutral and the target price was slashed to $200 from $285 (versus a $185.30 prior close, after a 24% drop) at UBS.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $42 from $38 at UBS.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $33 from $30 (versus a $31.80 close) at JPMorgan. The prior consensus target price was $33.40, and the 52-week trading range is $22.66 to $32.23.

BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX) was started as Buy with a $21 price objective at Merrill Lynch. UBS started it as Buy with a $21 target, Berenberg started it as Buy with a $25 target, and JPMorgan started it as Overweight with a $23 target price.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NYSE: BB) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was maintained as Equal Weight and the target price was lowered to $353 from $367 (versus a $345.19 close) at Barclays.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $84.50 from $77.50 (versus a $73.84 close, after a 3.5% gain) at JPMorgan. Citi had a prior consensus target price of $83.10 and a 52-week trading range of $48.42 to $74.28.

CloudFlare Inc. (NYSE: NET) was started with an Overweight rating and a $20 target price (versus a $16.83 close) at Piper Jaffray.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was started as Outperform with an $80 target price (versus a $66.88 close) at Evercore ISI.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: RDY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $70 from $68 (versus a $64.57 close, after an 8.6% gain) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $230 from $210 at Wells Fargo. Shares were down 1.75% at $200.69 on Friday and were indicated up 0.6% at $202.00 on Monday.

Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $32 from $25 at Wells Fargo. The stock closed up about 3.1% at $25.14 on Friday and was indicated up another 4% at $26.15 on Monday.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) fired CEO Steve Easterbrook over an improper relationship with a company employee, and the shares were indicated lower by 1.8% at $190.35 on Monday, after closing down 1.4% at $193.94 on Friday. Piper Jaffray downgraded McDonald’s to Neutral from Overweight and cut the target price to $195 from $224, with the firm citing momentum disruption and operation risk. Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating and lowered its target to $216 from $221, and MKM Partners maintained its Buy rating while cutting its target to $225 from $240.

Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $58 target price (versus a $57.98 close) at Jefferies.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) closed down 17% at $20.86 on Friday in reaction to disappointing earnings and guidance. Citigroup maintained its Buy rating but cut its target to $31 from $38.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was maintained as Sell but the target price was raised to $41 from $38 (versus a $57.62 close) at UBS. Benchmark reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $65 from $60.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was reiterated as Neutral at Credit Suisse, but the firm did raise its target to $76 from $67.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was lowered to $65 from $67 at Nomura/Instinet, with the firm citing price cuts and competition from AT&T and T-Mobile putting pressure on Verizon’s revenue growth. Verizon closed at $60.37 ahead of the call but was indicated down 0.4% at $60.10 on Monday.

YETI Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI) closed down 1.2% at $32.90 on Friday and was indicated down less than 0.5% at $32.75 on Monday. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target price to $38 from $36.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Arista Networks, Booking, Dunkin’ Brands, DuPont, GameStop, Generac, PBF Energy, Pinterest, Square, YETI and many more.

Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Here’s a Great First Step

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.