Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AGCO, Caterpillar, Chewy, Clorox, Costco, First Solar, Netflix, Snap, Starbucks, Wynn and More

Investing

Published: October 16, 2020 8:49 am

Last Updated: August 9, 2021 12:25 pm

Stocks managed to recoup most of Thursday’s trading losses, with the S&P 500 closing down just 0.15% and the Dow Jones industrials closing down less than 0.1% on the day. Friday’s trading indications were up 0.2% on both the S&P 500 and Dow. Though many investors missed out on the recovery since late March, many key leadership stocks have pulled back from their highs to more attractive entry points.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls 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 seen on Friday, October 16, 2020.

Adicet Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: ACET) was started as Outperform and a $25 target price (versus a $13.29 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The company was said to be leveraging the unique properties of gamma delta T cells to develop allogeneic engineered cell therapies for cancer.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $95 from $70 (versus an $80.59 prior close) at Citigroup.

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAM) shares rose over 16% to $32.92 on Thursday as a beneficiary of Vertex’s rival study being halted. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and $40 price target on the stock, and the firm sees a strong rationale for the company to succeed where other approaches fall short, but with commercialization still years out.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was reiterated as Outperform with a $120 price target (versus a $93.12 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $220 price target at Wells Fargo. The stock closed up almost 1% at $165.04 a share on Thursday, and its consensus target price was $150.18.

Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC) was started as Buy with an $82 price target (versus a $53.28 prior close) at Needham. The stock had a $54.81 consensus target price.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $100 from $59 (versus a $64.88 prior close) at Jefferies.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Cogent Communications Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. The stock closed at $62.32 per share and has a $74.10 consensus analyst target.

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was raised to Buy from Hold and its target price was raised to $435 from $325 at Jefferies. It closed at $376.58 ahead of the call, with a $368.07 consensus target price.

CSG Systems International Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that after missing earnings at the start of August, this software and services provider saw estimates fall. Shares last closed at $42.70 and have a consensus price target of $55.33.