Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, AT&T, CenturyLink, Fortinet, Gap, GW Pharma, Halliburton, Marvell, Schlumberger, Wells Fargo, Western Digital and More

Investing

Published: July 15, 2020 9:11 am

Last Updated: July 15, 2020 9:26 am

Stocks were surging on Wednesday morning as earnings are starting out better than expected and after Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial showed very positive data in midstage studies. This earnings season is expected to be the worst year-over-year comparison since the Great Recession. With an election coming up and with what is still a very deep recession, investors should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the second half of 2020 and as 2021 comes into focus.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Remember, 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 we have seen on Wednesday, July 15, 2020.

AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was started as Overweight with a $296 price target at Barclays. Shares closed up 1.2% at $258.94 and had a $277.13 consensus target price.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was started as Equal Weight with a $138 price target at Barclays.

Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $3 price target (versus a $2.66 prior close) at MKM Partners.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $450 from $350 at Needham. Apple closed up 1.6% at $388.23 and had a $350.33 prior consensus target price.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was maintained as Outperform at Oppenheimer, but the firm cut its target price to $38 from $47. AT&T closed at $29.96 a share on Tuesday, with a $33.64 consensus target price.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) was started as Outperform and its price target was set at $725 (versus a $622.93 prior close) at Evercore ISI.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer. Shares closed up almost 2.2% at $9.89 on Tuesday, with a $9.86 consensus target price.

CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR) was started as Underweight at Barclays.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was started as Overweight and a $197 target price at Barclays.

CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) was started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was started as Overweight and a $165 price target at Barclays.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) was started with an Overweight rating and an $821 target price (versus a $716.91 close) at Barclays.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE: WTRG) was started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this retailer is suffering like many others with mall traffic way day. Shares last closed at $1.38 and have a consensus price target of $1.83.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but its price target was raised to $140 from $129 (versus a $134.48 close) at Goldman Sachs.