Tuesday Afternoon Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CRISPR, Editas, Esperion Therapeutics, Marriott Penn National Gaming and More

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By Chris Lange Published
Tuesday Afternoon Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CRISPR, Editas, Esperion Therapeutics, Marriott Penn National Gaming and More

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Another day of strong earnings is pushing the broad markets higher across the board. Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble were a couple companies with earnings beats that helped push the Dow Jones higher. At the same time, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track for their fifth straight day of gains.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Tuesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Adobe, Nvidia, Target, Verizon, Walmart and more.

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI | ACI Price Prediction): Citigroup downgraded to a Neutral rating from Buy but raised the price target to $32 from $30. Shares were trading near $28 on Tuesday, and the analysts’ consensus target price is $30.18.

Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL): Citigroup downgraded to a Sell rating from Neutral with an $8 price target. The 52-week trading range is $4.45 to $9.89, and the share price is near $8.

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CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP): SVB Leerink started with an Outperform rating and a $126 price target. Shares were trading near $100 on Tuesday, and the consensus price target is $160.79.

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT): SVB Leerink initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $41 price target. The 52-week range is $27.12 to $99.95, and the share price is roughly $39.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR): Credit Suisse downgraded to a Neutral rating from Outperform and cut the price target to $11 from $28. Shares were trading around $9, well below the consensus price target of $28.45.

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR): Evercore ISI downgraded to In-Line from Outperform and raised the price target to $160 from $145. Shares were trading around $155, above the consensus price target of $152.80.

Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN): Berenberg started with a Buy rating and a $95 price target. Shares were trading near $81 apiece. The consensus price target is $103.71.

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX): Barclays upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight with a $14 price target. Shares were trading near $12 on Tuesday, and the consensus target price is $14.35.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC): Wells Fargo started with an Overweight rating and a $156 price target. The 52-week trading range is $120.67 to $308.00, and the share price is near $139.

The aerospace and defense sector has been out of the spotlight, but four outstanding stocks in the sector look cheap and pay solid dividends, offering investors very good total return potential.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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