Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bill.com, Dell, Dollar General, DraftKings, Gap, HP, Marvell, Okta, Ulta, Workday and More

The S&P 500 has continued to surge to new all-time highs this week, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said he will keep interest rates incredibly low for a long period to promote higher inflation at or above the Fed’s 2% target. The Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all higher on Friday. Many investors missed the recovery as the recession forced them out of the market. Investors also have been looking for new ideas for how to be positioned in the rest 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.

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 Friday, August 28, 2020.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the pandemic may have put the nails in the coffin for this seemingly dying movie theater giant. Shares last closed at $6.52 and have a consensus price target of $3.50.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $142 price target at HSBC. Shares closed up 0.3% at $141.37 on Thursday, with a $144 consensus price target.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL) was up almost 35 at $106.06 ahead of earnings but was indicated down over 3% at $102.60 afterward. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated it as Overweight and raised the price target to $110 from $90. Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $112 from $85, and Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $120 from $110.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $39 target price at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed up 2.8% at $40.30 on Thursday and have a $38.62 consensus target price.

Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) is merging with BMC Stock Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BMCH). On Thursday, we saw a 22% gain in BMC and an 8% gain in Builders FirstSource. Wedbush Securities reiterated Builders FirstSource as Outperform with a $36 price target. Deutsche Bank raised it to Buy from Hold with a $37 price target, and Barclays raised its rating to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $36 target price.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) closed up 0.5% at $62.43 ahead of earnings and was last seen up almost 3% at $64.25 afterward. RBC Capital Markets upgraded it to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its price target to $80 from $48. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its price target to $69 from $54.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was down 1.3% at $201.34 on Thursday, and shares were indicated up 0.6% at $202.75 on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Overweight and raised its price target to $240 from $222, and Raymond James reiterated it as Strong Buy and the target was raised to $235 from $225.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, with the firm noting that much of the increased value in online gambling is valid but also that the stock has more than doubled this year and investor optimism may be too high. Shares closed at $39.06 apiece on Thursday and were indicated down 2.5% at $38.10 on Friday. The consensus target price was $46.45.

Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks yet again, which said that analysts have been driving up their estimates following excellent second-quarter results. Shares most recently closed at $20.31 and have a consensus price target of $28.11.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with an $84 price target (versus an $81.41 prior close) at JPMorgan.

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