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The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 managed to close up on Friday, and there were even stronger gains on Monday morning as the tech stocks were trying to stage a rally. Many investors missed out on the recovery rally and are now looking for new ideas about how they want to be positioned ahead of the election.
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 from Monday, September 14, 2020.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was reiterated with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, which also raised its price target to $560 from $450. The stock most recently closed at $471.35, in a 52-week range of $255.13 to $536.88. The consensus price target is $469.41
Bloomin' Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $20 from $18 at Raymond James.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. The stock recently closed at $20.06, in a 52-week range of $15.51 to $40.08. The consensus price target is $30.66.
Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and its target was raised to $65 from $60 (versus a $58.01 prior close) at Barclays.
Elastic N.V. (NASDAQ: ESTC) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this "little Google" of big-data search and analytics has analysts raising estimates and price targets. Shares most recently closed at $100.79 and have a consensus price target of $128.62.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was reiterated with an Equal Weight rating by Morgan Stanley, and the firm also raised its price target to $110 from $100. Shares last closed at $232.79 and have a consensus price target of $219.08. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $88.69 to $241.00.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) closed down 2.2% at $6.09 a share on Friday, after earnings last week, but its shares had traded as high as $8.45 in the run-up ahead of earnings. Jefferies raised the shares from Hold to Buy with an $8 target, and Telsey Advisory raised its rating to Outperform with a $10 target price.
Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $117 target price (versus a $100.56 close) at JPMorgan.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was maintained as Outperform but its target was cut to $88 from $94 at SVB Leerink, after the biotech giant announced a $21 billion buyout of Immunomedics.
Harmony Biosciences Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HRMY) was started as Overweight with a $61 target price (versus a $44.14 close) at Piper Sandler. Goldman Sachs started it with a Neutral rating and a $43 target price.
Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was raised to $88 from $56 at H.C. Wainwright. The downgrade comes as Gilead Sciences is paying $21 billion (more than 100% premium) to acquire the company.
ALSO READ: How the Dow Can Still Rise Above 30,000 Before 2021
Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $128 target price (versus a $136.80 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $40 price objective at BofA Securities. The stock closed down 1% at $34.37 per share on Friday, after earnings last week, and its consensus target price was $36.47.
Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM) was raised from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $14.50 price target (versus an $11.66 close) at Morgan Stanley.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $20 target price at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed at $22.73 apiece on Friday and have a $19.15 consensus target price.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $58 price target (versus a $46.09 close) at Goldman Sachs. It had a $63.71 per share consensus target price.
Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $14 target price (versus a $10.03 close) at MKM Partners.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm suggests that, in terms of sales and profit damage, cruise lines may be the worst casualty of the global pandemic shutdown. Shares last closed at $17.51 and have a consensus price target of just $16.96.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was reiterated as a Buy rating with a $680 price target at Jefferies. Shares last closed at $486.58, in a 52-week range of $169.32 to $589.07. The consensus price target is $543.35.
Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and its target was raised to $51 from $44 (versus a $43.71 close) at Citigroup. It had a $47.25 consensus target price.
Total S.E. (NYSE: TOT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. Shares most recently closed at $38.49 and have a 52-week range of $22.13 to $56.91. The consensus price target is $51.33.
Tradeweb Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: TW) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $60 price target (versus a $53.19 close) at Rosenblatt.
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) was raised from Sell to Hold with a $42 price target at Loop Capital. The stock closed down 2.5% at $41.40 a share on Friday, and its consensus target price was $51.43.
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Despite the pullback and despite the economy, there is still a path for the Dow to get back up to new all-time highs like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq did. If so, Dow 30,000 could be a reality even before year's end.
Five surprising dividend stocks picks have at least 6% dividend yields.
Friday's top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Advanced Micro Devices, Corning, Domino's Pizza, Lennar, Lululemon Athletica, Oracle, Peloton Interactive, SunPower, Tesla and Wells Fargo.
Video: Investors Were Interested in Stocks This Week -- Even as S&P 500 Was Pressured (TheStreet)
Investors Were Interested in Stocks This Week -- Even as S&P 500 Was Pressured
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