Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Applied, aTyr, Baidu, BP, Brinker, Chevron, j2, Marriott, Nvidia, Teladoc, Tesla, Yelp and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 17, 2020 9:04 am

Last Updated: August 18, 2020 7:48 am

Stocks were indicated to open higher on Monday, as the S&P 500 is close to its all-time highs again. Many investors feel as though they missed the ride higher, as the recession forced many out of the market, whether they wanted to stay in or not. Investors also have been looking for new ideas for how to be positioned in the second half of 2020 and ahead of the election.

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

Now that stocks have recovered so much, daily analyst calls have basically normalized, with fewer extreme target changes. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Monday, August 17, 2020.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $242 from $240 (versus a $253.95 prior close) at Truist Securities. The firm noted that sales data suggests online sales growth of physical goods year over year has accelerated through June.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $75 from $62 (versus a $67.62 close) at Citigroup.

Angi Homeservices Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this is a well-positioned company for the new normal with its leading online services offerings. Shares most closed at $13.13 and have a consensus price target of $16.32.

aTyr Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ATYR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $13 target (versus a $3.81 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was reiterated as Equal Weight but its target price was lowered to $130 from $136 at Barclays. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated it as Overweight and raised its price target to $155 from $145.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $31 from $28 at Piper Sandler.

Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $46 target price at Deutsche Bank.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and its target price was raised to $41 from $37 (versus a $33.64 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods. The consensus price target was $40.91.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this is yet another product of the quickly escalating retail apocalypse. Shares last closed at $27.78 and have a consensus price target of $41.30.

CNX Resources Corp. (NYSE: CNX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MKM Partners.

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