Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, AMD, AT&T, Broadcom, Energy Transfer, Ford, Fortinet, Intel, Intelsat, Shake Shack, T-Mobile and More

November 19, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks have hit new highs and were looking to open mildly positive on Tuesday after stronger housing data was seen. With the Dow Jones industrials up over 28,000 and the S&P 500 over 3,100, investors are starting to see upside targets issued for 2020. Despite the record levels in recent days and weeks, the investor community still has 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 Tuesday, November 19, 2019.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $96 from $79 (versus an $88.73 prior close) at UBS.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $48 from $40 (versus a $39.88 close, after a 3.4% gain).

Allergan PLC (NYSE: AGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $203 price target (versus a $184.50 close) at UBS.

Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this home health care stock has generated big growth in 2019. Shares most recently closed at $154.92, with a consensus price target of $152.73.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $30 target price at Moffett Nathanson.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the target price was raised to $367 from $298 at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed down 0.6% at $311.07, and it previously had a $320.74 consensus target price.

Calithera Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CALA) was started as Buy and assigned a $7 target price (versus a $3.38 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) was reiterated with a Buy rating and a $170 target price at Argus.

Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) was maintained with a Buy rating but the price target was lowered to $18 from $20 (versus an $11.33 close) at Citigroup.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, with the firm saying it walked away from the unveiling of the Mach-E Mustang-inspired SUV/crossover solidly impressed but wants to wait and see how volumes will go and whether it will succeed against Tesla.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was up 2.2% at $103.84 on Monday, within a 52-week range of $64.41 to $104.35. Several firms have raised target prices: Merrill Lynch to $120 from $110, Cowen to $105 from $88, Mizuho to $102 from $92, Morgan Stanley to $86 from $82 and Barclays to $118 from $105.


Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $64 from $60 at Mizuho. Intel closed up 0.5% at $58.25, and it has a consensus target price of $56.53.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) was down 40% at $8.03 after the FCC called for a public auction of the C-Band airwaves for 5G. Evercore ISI downgraded the shares to In-Line from Outperform and lowered the target price to $11 from $38.

Karuna Therapeuticx Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX) rose over 400% after a drug study in schizophrenia was so positive it could change the standard of care, and the company is raising capital with a 2.6 million share secondary offering into the strength. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $109 from $35.

Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Securities.

MSG Networks Inc. (NYSE: MSGN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $15 target price (versus an $18.49 close, after a 2.3% gain) at Guggenheim. The stock was indicated down 5.3% at $17.51 on Tuesday, and it had a $17.86 consensus target price.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was started as Neutral at D.A. Davidson.

Progyny Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNY) had a recent IPO that has seen its quiet period come to an end, and shares rose 4.9% to $24.92 on Monday and were indicated up another 5% at $26.20 on Tuesday. Citigroup started the stock as Buy, Piper Jaffray started as Overweight, Jefferies started as Buy and Leerink started as Outperform.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $208 target price (versus a $197.67 close) at HSBC.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was started as Neutral with a $66 target price (versus a $61.75 close) at Robert W. Baird. It is down from a high of $105.84, and the consensus target price was $77.62.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that consumers are choosing not to visit the theme parks, affecting key growth areas. Shares last closed at $46.05 and have a consensus price target of $54.42.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) was flat on news that CEO John Legere will step down as chief executive in 2020. Argus reiterated its Buy rating and $93 target, as it sees its fundamentals and vision remaining.

Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $67 target price at Argus.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amarin, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Liberty SiriusXM, Microsoft, Tesla, TripAdvisor, Twitter, Workday and many more.

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