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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Biogen, Boeing, Etsy, Gilead, GoPro, Micron, Newmont, Peloton, Pfizer, Valero, Zynga and More
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Stocks have already risen each day this week, with a 1,000-point Dow Jones industrial average recovery alone, and the major equity indexes were indicated to open slightly higher again on Thursday. All-time highs have come back into focus as China lowered tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods. The coronavirus cases keep rising (over 28,250 cases and 565 deaths in China), but there is some growing hope that a vaccine or treatment may be available in a few months. With global gross domestic product weighed on by China weakness, there is still much uncertainty and many ongoing and unresolved developments that investors have to digest in 2020. Many investors still have not made some of their normal portfolio changes this year either.
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 of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen for Thursday, February 6, 2020.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was started with a Buy rating and a $96 target price at Mizuho. Shares closed up about 2.7% at $86.63 ahead of the call, with a $95.18 consensus target price.
Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that data analysis software is in high demand and this provider makes the science accessible to a wide variety of customers. Shares most recently closed at $135.21 and have a consensus price target of $130.14.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was reiterated as Buy with a $265 target price at Argus. It closed up 4.5% at $231.94 ahead of his call and has a $246.05 consensus target price.
Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) closed up 17.5% at $332.87 on Wednesday after winning a key multiple sclerosis drug patent ruling over Mylan. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating but raised its target price to $330 from $300. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $361 from $315.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said the continued 737 Max grounding and the spread of the coronavirus signal that this company’s problems are not yet over. Shares last closed at $329.55, with a consensus price target of $337.50.
Cogent Communications Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the $52 target was raised to $84 by Goldman Sachs. The stock closed up just four cents at $71.82 a share on Wednesday and had a $56.82 consensus target price after it rallied about 10% so far this year.
Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was started with a Hold rating and a $46 target price at Stifel. It closed down 2.2% at $49.57 on Wednesday, with a prior consensus target price of $64.75.
Flagstar Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: FBC) was reiterated as Outperform with a $40 target price (versus a $35.49 prior close) at Wedbush Securities, but the firm lowered its earnings estimates over higher expected loan loss provisions and higher operating costs.
FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $27 target price at Stifel. The stock closed down a penny to $26.38 ahead of the call, with a $26.32 consensus target price.
Funko Inc. (NASDAQ: FNKO) saw its shares plunge almost 40% to $9.50 after showing slower sales than expected. Merrill Lynch downgraded the shares to Underperform Buy and JPMorgan downgraded them to Underweight from Overweight. D.A. Davidson also downgraded it, to Neutral from Buy, and slashed its target price from $35 to $11.
General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the target price was raised to $225 from $210 at JPMorgan. General Dynamics closed up 2.5% at $183.97 on Wednesday, with a $210.39 consensus target price.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $70 target price at Bernstein.
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