Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Akamai, Carlyle, Ford, GM, JD.com, Moderna, Netflix, Peloton, Raytheon, Target, Tesla, Visa and More

Investing

Published: April 15, 2020 8:55 am

Last Updated: April 15, 2020 9:05 am

Stocks closed up on Tuesday but were indicated to open lower Wednesday morning. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 have recovered more than half of their bear market losses, and investors have been caught off guard in many of the downward and upward moves. Many of those same investors are now looking for any new ideas about how to be best positioned for the rest of 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to look for new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations take place regardless of the daily market volatility. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Many analysts have lowered their target prices in recent weeks. That is true even in many analyst upgrades are coming with lower price targets. Yet, there are still many traditional analyst upgrades and reiterations, as if things were still close to normal. Remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv. These are the top analyst calls tracked for Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $262 price target (versus a $220.79 prior close) at Bernstein.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was maintained as Neutral but the price target was raised to $115 from $100 (versus a $100.50 close) at Nomura/Instinet.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $60 price target (versus a $36.77 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $55 from $48 (versus a $50.07 close) at Piper Sandler.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company provides personal protection equipment to hospitals nationwide. Shares most recently closed at $50.69 and have a consensus price target of $56.00.

Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $34 price target (versus a $24.01 close) at Citigroup.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs. Ford stock closed up 2.5% at $5.29 ahead of the call, with a $6.41 consensus price target.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs. Shares of GM closed down 0.13% at $22.98 ahead of the call, with a $36.50 consensus price target.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this hospitality giant has withdrawn 2020 guidance amid the coronavirus pandemic. Shares last closed at $70.01, with a consensus price target of $83.68.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) was maintained as Outperform but its price target was cut to $67 from $100 (versus a $44.33 close) at Wedbush Securities.