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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AECOM, Albermarle, Apple, Chesapeake Energy, Foot Locker, Gap, GoPro, Nike, Qualcomm, Southwest Air, Under Armour, Wayfair and More

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Stocks were indicated to open lower on Wednesday, but that is after the S&P 500 hit 3,100 the prior day after last week’s all-time highs. Investors still have a lot of pressing issues and risks to consider now that the bull market is over 10 and a half years old. This is a time for investors to consider 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. Our goal is 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 Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $66 from $56 (versus a $51.95 prior close) at UBS.

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $48 from $38 at Barclays.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $270 from $260 at Barclays.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) fell 3.5% to $65.31 after multiple target cuts on Tuesday, and shares were indicated another 2.1% lower at $63.90 on Wednesday morning. Citigroup downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and lowered the target price to $58 from $62.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was started with a Sell rating and a $27 target price (versus a $29.52 close) at UBS.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was assumed with an Outperform rating and assigned a $295 target price at RBC Capital Markets, with the firm noting that Apple has deeper means to integrate into the everyday lives of its customers in its ecosystem. Apple closed down 24 cents at $261.96 a share on Tuesday.

BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ: BDSI) was reiterated as Buy with a $10 target price (versus a $5.85 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that its guidance was raised for 2019 and strong 2020 guidance was announced.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $150 from $142 at Argus, with the independent research firm calling it one of the leading office REITs. with a $3.6 billion development pipeline that is focused outside the New York metropolitan area.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed down 17% at $0.67, in a 52-week range of $0.65 to $3.78.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Diplomat Pharmacy Inc. (NYSE: DPLO) fell 50% to $3.10 on Tuesday after receiving a “going concern” warning after wider losses. Barclays downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the price target to $3 from $7.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating with a $50 target price. Shares closed down 1.8% at $45.37 on Tuesday and had a $47.02 prior consensus target price.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was started with an Underweight rating and a $14 target price (versus a $17.16 close) at Barclays.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it looks like the GoPro fad may be coming to an end, with shares plummeting over 94% in the past 5 years. Shares most recently closed at $4.56, with a consensus price target of $5.45.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) closed down another 2.2% at $15.63 on Tuesday. Barclays started it with an Equal Weight rating and a $16 target price.


JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was started with a Buy rating and a $25 target price (versus a $19.30 close) at UBS.

Jumia Technologies A.G. (NYSE: JMIA) was maintained as Outperform, but its target price was lowered to $8 from $23 (versus a $5.84 close, after a 12.3% drop) at Raymond James. The 52-week range is $5.59 to $49.77.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $32 from $30 (versus a $27.00 close) at Argus.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was started with an Underweight rating and a $16 target price (versus a $17.53 close) at Barclays.

Marker Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRKR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $10 from $15 (versus a $3.92 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that the impact from the clinical hold on its IND filing for MultiTAA T cell therapy for AML (due to two reagents supplied by third-party vendors used in its manufacturing) should represent a slight delay in the program’s clinic entry.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with an $18 target price (versus a $20.93 close) at JPMorgan.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) was started as Overweight and assigned a $34 target price (versus a $27.02 close) at Barclays.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started as Overweight and assigned a $111 target price (versus an $89.50 close) at Barclays. Nike has a 52-week range of $66.53 to $96.87, and its prior consensus target price was $102.74.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $175 from $173 (versus a $136.13 close) at Citigroup.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this is an innovations machine that has a diverse portfolio of wireless capabilities. Shares last closed at $90.97 and have a consensus price target of $89.94.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was started as Overweight with a $130 target price (versus a $111.36 close) at Barclays.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was reiterated as Neutral at Citigroup, but the firm did raise its target to $208 from $174. Also, Credit Suisse upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform with a $191 target price.

Sanofi S.A. (NYSE: SNY) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $52 from $50 at Argus.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was started as Neutral and a $60 target price at UBS.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was started as Buy and its target price was set at $140 (versus a $118.99 close) at UBS.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was started as Overweight and a $66 target price (versus a $58.40 close) at Barclays.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was started with an Equal Weight rating and a $19 target price (versus a $17.29 close) at Barclays.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was started with a Buy rating and a $110 target price at UBS, with the firm pointing out that United has better cost management initiatives than its rivals and that it can expect to see margin expansion as a result.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was started with an Underweight rating and a $76 target price (versus an $84.60 close) at Barclays.

We screened the Raymond James Favorite Analyst picks looking for new ideas with big upside potential, and we found five that growth stock investors may want to add now that look outstanding ideas,

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albermarle, Amgen, Applied Materials, Biogen, CRISPR Therapeutics, CrowdStrike, CSX, Kroger, Slack, Teva Pharmaceutical, Xerox and many more.

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