Wall Street’s Top Analysts’ Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations
$BA, $INTC, $JNJ, $SLB, $YHOO
Daily HeffX-LTN review Wall Street analyst research reports to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.
Below is a list of Wall Streets top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Thursday, as follows:
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) downgraded from Neutral to Underperform, meaning Sell, at Merrill Lynch. Its price objective is 125. This downgrade is based on a Key issue with the 787 Dreamliner forecasts. Boeing’s view is that the 787 Dreamliner will generate $29-B in cash by Y 2022, but Merrill Lynch now expects $14-B to be generated, and it sees Boeing taking a charge on the 787 program or extending the block size as the $30-M profit per plane on average was called unachievable. The consensus price target is 137.95, and the 52-wk trading range is 102.10 – 153.00.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) analysts reiterated INTC as a Buy at Jefferies, but the firm raised its price target to 42 from 39, based on better margins and its reorganization. S&P Capital IQ reiterated its Buy rating and said that Intel is executing well with its plans to migrate away from a PC-oriented company. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and 36 price target, noting that Intel could have an Northside case of 40 – 45, based on EPS of 3.00. Intel has traded in a 24.87 – 35.59 range over the past 52 wks.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to 130 from 116 Vs a 113.58 Wednesday at the close at Argus. The call is based on further Northside expectations after strong Q-1 results and an upbeat outlook for Y 2016. Note that the highest official analyst price target from Thomson First Call is 123.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB) analysts raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target was raised to 93 from 83 at Barclays. The consensus price target of 84.28 compares to a 52-wk trading range of 59.60 – 95.13.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) reiterated as Buy at Jefferies after earnings, with the firm raising its price target to 43 from 40. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price objective to 48 from 46 on recent Yahoo! Japan appreciation, and the firm only sees the Southside to 36 based on the current Alibaba stock price. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to 49 from 40. The 52-wk trading range is 26.15 45.10
Stay tuned…
Paul Ebeling