Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Aurora Cannabis, Biogen, Micron, Nio, Nvidia, Palo Alto, Tandem Diabetes, Tesla and More

Investing

Published: February 25, 2020 9:05 am

Last Updated: February 26, 2020 8:00 am

On Monday, stocks experienced their worst trading day in two years as the coronavirus is spreading outside of China. The indexes were indicated to open higher Tuesday by about 13 S&P 500 points and 100 Dow Jones industrials points, but the futures were indicated higher last night. Despite this being an election year and despite the global economy being affected by the coronavirus, many investors have yet to make any major changes to their holdings after the incredible gains from 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others 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 Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

AON PLC (NYSE: AON) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $265 target price (versus a $223.30 prior close) at Wells Fargo. It had a $230.69 consensus target price.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) was down over 7% to $1.55 on Monday. Needham started the stock with a Hold rating and a $1.50 target price.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was reiterated as Neutral but its target price was raised to $316 from $300 (versus a $325.98 close, after a 3.2% drop) at Mizuho. The stock was indicated up 0.6% at $328.00 a share on Tuesday, and it had a $331.26 consensus target price.

Black Stone Minerals L.P. (NYSE: BSM) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets. Its units were down 1.5% at $9.97 on Monday, but they were trading down 9% at $9.05 on Tuesday after earnings and 2020 guidance.

CNA Financial Corp. (NYSE: CNA) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that earnings estimates are moving higher for this insurance agent. Shares most recently closed at $46.64, with a consensus price target of $53.50.

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was lowered to $50 from $65 (versus a $55.05 close, after a 3.8% drop) at Mizuho.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) closed up 9.5% at $10.88 on Monday and was indicated down 2.5% at $10.60 on Tuesday. CIBC World Markets raised it to Outperform from Neutral with a $13 target.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was down almost 2% at $45.74 on Monday, and it was indicated down about 11.5% at $40.45 after reporting a loss despite beating revenue expectations. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $49 from $30. Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target from $35 to $50.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its target price was raised to $28 from $25 (versus a $24.19 close) at Goldman Sachs.