Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Apple, BofA, Citigroup, Dollar Tree, Nordstrom, Salesforce, Travelers, JD.com and More

January 6, 2020 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were indicated lower on Monday after continued strife and escalating threats with Iran are eroding market confidence. For those who did not make all of their portfolio shifts and changes in 2019, particularly after more than a 28% annual gain in the S&P 500, now is the time to be reconsidering how to be positioned for 2020. Despite the market’s concerns about headlines, the stock market is still barely under all-time highs as trade tensions are abating and global growth may see a rekindled strength. This is also an election year in which much is at stake, and strategists by and large are calling for single-digit percentage gains in 2020.

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 analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many 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 from Monday, January 6, 2020.

AllegionĀ PLC (NYSE: ALLE) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $114 target price (versus a $123.84 prior close) at Credit Suisse.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $1,650 target price at Pivotal Research. Alphabet closed at $1,361.52 and had a consensus target price of $1,472.28 ahead of this call.

Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN) was started as Neutral and assigned a $22 target price (versus a $20.95 close) at JPMorgan.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that retail has bounced back in a big way but that does not mean all retailers are moving in the right direction. Shares last closed at $14.39 and have a consensus price target of $16.31.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Buy from Strong Buy but the price target was raised to $350 from $280 at Needham. Apple previously closed at $297.43 but had seen its consensus target go up after some more recent analyst hikes.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $43 target price at Barclays. Shares previously closed down 2.1% at $34.90, and the prior consensus target price was $35.40.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL) has seen its quiet period come to an end, and its last $38.01 close is against a post-IPO trading range of $34.60 to $41.75. These are the analyst calls seen so far: KeyBanc started it as Overweight with a $45 target price, Needham started it as Buy with a $43 target price, Goldman Sachs started it as Neutral with a $32 target price and Jefferies started it as Hold with a $40 target price.

Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its target price was lowered to $33 from $34 (versus a $29.68 close) at Jefferies.

Builders FirstSourceĀ Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) was raised to Outperform from In-Line with a $28 target price at Evercore ISI Group.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Goldman Sachs reiterated it as Buy and raised its target price to $88 from $84 as well.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CFG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $49 target price (versus a $39.91 close, after a 2% drop) at Barclays.

Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE: CDE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley FBR.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $71 target price (versus a $70.66 close) at Wells Fargo.


Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and its target price was slashed to $74 from $94 (versus a $93.03 close) at Loop Capital. The stock was indicated down over 2% at $93.03 on Monday, and the prior consensus target price was $103.54.

Foundation Building Materials Inc. (NYSE: FBM) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line with a $20 target price at Evercore ISI Group.

Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ: GLPG) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Gentex Corp. (NASDAQ: GNTX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $37 target price (versus a $29.09 close) at Jefferies.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $210 target price (versus a $184.40 close) at Raymond James.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that, with the trade war tensions easing, Chinese stocks are becoming more attractive to analysts. Its shares most recently closed at $37.99, with a consensus price target of $39.53.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $20 target price at Wells Fargo.

Life Storage Inc. (NYSE: LSI) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with a $41 target price (versus a $39.88 close) at JPMorgan.

NortonLifeLock Inc. (NASDAQ: NLOK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $32 target price (versus a $25.83 close) at Barclays.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Outperform, its target price was raised to $215 from $200 and it was added to the Top Picks List at RBC Capital Markets.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $95 from $76 (versus a $79.57 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo.

US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $61 target price at Wells Fargo. Goldman Sachs downgraded it to Sell from Neutral with a $55 target price.

Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was lowered to $15.50 from $17.50 at (versus a $16.66 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Bank of America, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cogent Communications, Endo, Humana, Incyte, L Brands, NextEra Energy, Papa John’s, Wingstop and many more.

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