24/7 Wall St.

Stocks handily regained what looked to be big initial losses on Wednesday, and the markets were indicated higher on Thursday for what may be new all-time highs. For those who did not make all of their portfolio shifts and changes during a very strong market in 2019, it is time to reconsider how to be positioned for 2020. Many market risks, concerns and headlines still may come with worry, but trade tensions are abating and global growth may see a rekindled strength this year, while interest rates are expected to remain stable. This is also an election year in which much is at stake, and strategists are by and large 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 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 calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics come from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

Our 2020 Bull/Bear Outlook sees the Dow rising by about 7.4% to 30,650 this year, but there are outliers that could help the Dow rise by over 10% after a very strong 2019. The upside scenario puts Dow 32,000 easily within reach if only a few things go right this year.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Thursday, January 9, 2020.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho, and the firm raised its target price to $55 from $38 in the call. AMD previously closed at $47.83, and it had a $39.99 consensus target price ahead of the call.

Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS) was started as Outperform with a $32 target price (versus a $28.83 prior close) at Raymond James.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was started with a Neutral rating and a $124 target price at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed at $125.54 and had a $131.78 consensus target price.

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $34 target price (versus a $32.73 close) at Barclays.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $64 from $54 at Credit Suisse. Shares previously closed at $54.35, and the consensus target price was $58.76.

DBV Technologies S.A. (NASDAQ: DBVT) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $18 target price (up from $10 previously, and versus an $11.24 close) at Stifel. It had a consensus target price of $15.18 ahead of the call, but its shares were indicated up 20% at $13.50 on Thursday morning after news of positive three-year long-term study data from a Phase 3 open-label extension study of Viaskin Peanut in children.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $37 target price at Barclays. The stock previously closed down 3.55% at $25.55, and its consensus target price was $30.54.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that shares have fallen 35% in the past two years and its planned merger with Peugeot still awaits regulatory approval. Shares last closed at $14.25 and have a consensus price target of $18.18.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was started as Hold at Benchmark.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was started with a Buy rating and a $49 target price (versus a $34.65 close) at Benchmark.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $270 from $245 (versus a $237.76 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with a Sell rating and the target price was set at $35 (versus a $45.08 close) at Benchmark. The prior consensus target price was $68.23.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $180 from $165 at Cowen. Wedbush Securities also got very aggressive by reiterating its Outperform rating and raising its target price to $195 from $185. Microsoft closed up 1.6% at $160.09 and hit a new all-time high of $160.80 the prior day. Its consensus target price was $165.19.

Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price objective was raised to $22.50 from $19.50 (versus a $21.75 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was maintained as Outperform at Raymond James, but the firm did lower its target price to $125 from $130. Shares closed down 3.7% at $104.10, and they had a consensus target price of $129.06 and a 52-week high of $119.92.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $178 from $144 (versus a $158.89 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was started with an Underperform rating at Raymond James, and MKM had lowered its target to $65 from $75 earlier in the week.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $20 from $16 at Cowen. Jefferies raised it to Buy from Hold and raised its target price to $21. Shares closed down 2.1% at $16.67 ahead of the calls, with an $18.07 consensus target price. Shares were up over 45 at $17.40 ahead of the opening bell on Thursday, and its 52-week trading range is $5.63 to $18.36.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $107 target price at Barclays. It closed at $88.88 ahead of the call, and the consensus target price was $94.85 ahead of the call.

Tempur Sealy International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock is up 80% in the past year and the mattress powerhouse’s expansion looks poised to continue. Shares most recently closed at $85.26, with a consensus analyst target of $95.90.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird, but the firm also handily raised its target price to $525 from $355 after its shares closed up 4.9% at $492.14 on Wednesday. While the downgrade came with a serious target price hike, the analyst called this report a tactical downgrade to lock in profits after such a large gain (over 100% in just six months) and said that there is still a long-term growth story here. CFRA also downgraded Tesla to Sell from Hold, but the firm kept its $400 target price static as it sees its value at 36 times 2021 expected earnings with its shares now appearing to be fully valued after a strong run despite numerous near-term risks.

The analysts at Robert W. Baird have released the firm’s top stock picks for 2020, and we screened the growth picks for companies that also pay dependable dividends and have expected upside ahead.

Jefferies also added names to its top picks for 2020 list.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agilent Technologies, American Power, Apache, Boeing, Ciena, Cisco, FireEye, Palo Alto Networks, Sony, Southwest Airlines, Yum! Brands and many more.

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