Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Dave & Buster's, Kohl's, Micron, NetApp, Peloton, Salesforce, S&P, Slack, Verizon, Whiting Petroleum and More

Investing

Published: December 2, 2020 8:55 am

Last Updated: December 2, 2020 9:05 am

Stocks traded higher on the first day of December, but Tuesday was being met with profit-taking. Many investors have missed the run back to all-time highs, and now they are having to decide how they want their assets positioned heading into 2021, as the elections wind down and the coronavirus vaccine starts to become available.

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 Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

Aaron’s Co. Inc. (NYSE: AAN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Securities.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Securities. The stock closed up almost 1% at $25.54 a share on Tuesday, and it has a $22.90 consensus target price.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this retail stock has become especially bullish recently. Shares most recently closed at $57.14, and they have a consensus price target of $68.32.

Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy with a $106 price objective at BofA Securities. The stock closed up 3.3% at $101.67 on Tuesday but was indicated down 2.8% at $98.80 early Wednesday.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. The stock closed up 13.4% at $36.52 a share on Tuesday and has a $30.31 consensus target price.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) stock closed up 4.6% at $67.08 a share on Tuesday after raising guidance. Mizuho reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $75 from $70.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was last seen trading up over 8% at $58.50 on Wednesday after its earnings report. Wedbush Securities reiterated it as Neutral with a $57 price target.

Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OVID) was last seen trading down 51% at $3.27 on Wednesday morning after its investigational study to treat Angelman syndrome did not meet expectations. Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and slashed the price target to $4 from $10.

Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $140 from $125 (versus a $112.03 prior close) at Needham.