Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alexion, American Water Works, Apple, Schwab, Crowdstrike, FedEx, IBM, Microsoft, Nvidia, Ryanair, Tesla and More

Investing

Published: January 13, 2020 9:14 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 11:19 am

Stocks have been putting in new all-time highs at the start of 2020 after an incredibly strong 2019. The futures were indicated higher on Monday morning ahead of this week’s top bank earnings reports. For the investors who have not made portfolio shifts and changes during a very strong market in 2019, there is still time to get positioned for 2020. There are many market risks, concerns and headlines that 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 with a goal of finding 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 calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are 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 Monday, January 13, 2020.

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) was removed from the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities due to the firm’s investment price parameters. Its shares closed down 2.5% at $149.01 on Friday and were indicated down another 2.9% at $145.00 on Monday, in a 52-week trading range of $130.09 to $182.56.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $149 price target (versus a $110.74 prior close) at Wedbush, with the firm noting that the company pre-announced a beat for 2019 on the top line and said that its Ultomiris continues to gain traction and expectation that it will see a continued growth potential.

Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDA: LNT) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $60 from $57 at Argus.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $270 from $204 (versus a $230.80 close) at Goldman Sachs.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was maintained as Underperform but the price objective was raised to $128 from $125 at Merrill Lynch. Shares previously closed at $122.56 and had a consensus target price of $126.91.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $375 from $300 at D.A. Davidson.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities, but another call out of Merrill Lynch raised the target price to $155 from $152. The stock closed at $49.87 ahead of the calls, with a $50.25 consensus target price.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was reiterated as Neutral and the price objective was raised to $51 from $50 (versus a $47.80 close) at Merrill Lynch. The consensus target price is $53.50, and the 52-week range is $34.58 to $51.65.

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that cybersecurity threats will become global warfare this decade and one cloud falcon is winning the hearts and minds. Shares most recently closed at $57.20, with a consensus price target of $78.00.

DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the target price was raised to $132 from $125 at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting its shares are now a better bargain.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was maintained as Underperform and the price objective was raised to $96 from $95 at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed at $90.44 and have a consensus target price of $96.00.