Stocks were indicated to open slightly higher on Tuesday despite the civil unrest that continued into Monday evening. The S&P 500 has gone back above 3,050 and the Dow Jones industrials risen back above 25,000. Investors have pivoted to look beyond the news today, beyond COVID-19 and even beyond the economic recession. Many investors are puzzled about how to be positioned heading into summer and for the rest of 2020 ahead of the election.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Analysts are still making many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations. Many analysts are still cutting price targets and earnings estimates, but others are raising ratings and expectations.

Remember, no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision. Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv.

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These are the top analyst calls we have seen on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $115 target price at Argus. It closed down 2.1% at $91.40 a share on Monday, and its consensus price target was $97.00.

ANGI Homeservices Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $12.50 from $10.00 (versus an $11.50 prior close) at Deutsche Bank.

Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $29 from $22 (versus a $22.08 close) at Nomura/Instinet.

Box Inc. (NYSE: BOX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that big customers like Toyota and NASA confirm the value of this cloud content ecosystem. Shares most recently closed at $19.37, with a consensus price target of $23.71.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was maintained as Underweight but its price target was raised to $23 from $21 at Morgan Stanley.

CBOE Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $101 from $104 (versus a $104.96 close) at JPMorgan.

Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was reiterated as Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $56 from $51 at Morgan Stanley.

Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $60 from $46 at Citigroup. The stock closed up over 2.5% at $48.70, and it has a $53.36 consensus price target.

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IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $327 from $290 (versus a $278.82 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo, but the price objective was still raised to $275 from $250.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $253 from $170 (versus a $238.38 close) at Needham.

Nautilus Inc. (NYSE: NLS) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $10 from $8 (versus a $7.28 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $183 from $147 (versus a $154.53 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $805 from $775 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The consensus price target was $729.16,

Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was started as Outperform and the price target was set at $45 (versus a $37.18 close) at Cowen.

Sprout Social Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT) was started as Outperform and a $33 price target (versus a $29.09 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Tellurian Inc. (NASDAQ: TELL) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Stifel.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but its price target was raised to $122 from $104 at Goldman Sachs.

TRI Pointe Group (NYSE: TPH) was reiterated as Neutral but the price target was raised to $15 from $12 (versus a $14.26 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that malls and strip stores may never fully recover. Shares last closed at $239.09 and have a consensus price target of $261.59.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $220 (versus a $194.35 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) was reiterated as Buy with a $160 price target (versus a $138.34 close) at Argus.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $11 from $9 at Benchmark, and KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and also raised its price target to $11 from $9. These two calls are a day after the acquisition of Peak and after Wedbush raised its target price to $11.50.

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Raymond James has made changes to its top health care picks.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, Canopy Growth, CarMax, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Geron, Hess, Inogen, Occidental Petroleum, Snap, Teva Pharmaceutical, Vail Resorts, Zoom Video Communications and more.

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Stocks closed lower on Monday after the attacks in Saudi Arabia caused a record surge in oil prices. Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday, but a 0.1% or so average index drop was not signaling any clear outcome for the day. The markets have been volatile, and the S&P 500 came within 1% of its all-time high again last week. Investors have to grapple with a much lower growth economy at the same time the bull market is well over 10 years old. They should be considering what changes to make in their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Tuesday, September 17, 2019.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was reiterated as Overweight at Morgan Stanley, and the price target was raised to $33 from $31 (versus a $30.13 prior close, after a 0.1% drop) in that call. The consensus target price was $33.19, and the 52-week trading range is $22.66 to $31.37.

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Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $133 target price (versus a $111.00 close) at Oppenheimer.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $234 target price (versus a $207.00 close) at Oppenheimer.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which raised its target price to $75 from $70. Conoco closed up 9% at $62.53 on Monday’s the surge in oil prices.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was maintained as Neutral at UBS, but the target price was cut to $75 from $81. Shares closed down about 0.1% at $72.39 after Monday’s oil price surge.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was reiterated as Market Perform but the target price was raised to $44 from $40 at Wells Fargo.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed up 10.6% at $24.73 on Monday despite the market drop, with a prior consensus target price of $21.07 and a 52-week trading range of $4.05 to $25.22.

Extended Stay America Inc. (NASDAQ: STAY) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that two straight misses of consensus estimates are keeping new buyers away from this stock. Shares last closed at $14.61, with a consensus price target of $17.25.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. Home Depot closed down 1.3% at $230.99 on Monday and had a consensus target price of $226.00.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $290 target price (versus a $229.23 close) at Citigroup. It has a $300.32 consensus target price.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $100 target price (versus a $91.88 close) at Oppenheimer.

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KPTI) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $15 from $11 (versus an $11.85 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm said that the fresh royalty agreement will alleviate any financing needs that the company would have otherwise had.

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Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $95 target price (versus a $76.61 prior close, after a 2.2% gain) at Citigroup.

NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson. It closed up 0.3% at $21.79 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $22.67.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) was maintained as Buy at UBS, but the target price was cut to $216 from $230. Shares closed up nine cents at $182.28 after Monday’s oil price surge.

Orchard Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: ORTX) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $31 target price (versus a $15.50 close, after a 3.1% gain) at Guggenheim.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS) was raised to Hold from Reduce at HSBC.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was reiterated as Hold at Stifel, but the firm raised its target price to $80 from $65 (versus a $100.78 close, after a 0.8% gain).

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was raised to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna, and the firm raised its target to $18 from $12. The stock closed down 1.5% at $15.76 on Monday and was indicated up 1.7% at $16.03 on Tuesday. Snap had a consensus target price of $16.38, and its 52-week trading range is $4.82 to $18.36.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which also has a $130 target price. The stock closed up 1% at $114.82 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $150.02 and a 52-week trading range of $83.69 to $143.70.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was reiterated as Neutral with a $75 target price (versus a $59.25 close) at Wedbush, with a warning that Square looks like it about to have a margin-diluting investment phase that could create a noisy period for the coming quarters.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell and the target price was raised to $58 from $41 at UBS. Shares closed down 2% at $55.43 on Monday, as the surge in oil prices competes with retail spending.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) was maintained as Buy at UBS, but the target price was cut to $193 from $201. The stock closed down about 1.5% at $168.95 after Monday’s oil price surge.

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With the talk of a potential Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) release if it is needed, here is a look at what the SPR really is. Also, here is how 10 oil and gas stocks surged higher while transportation stocks were very mixed (despite being sensitive to the price of oil) on the Saudi-oil impact news. We also have covered how the weaponization and attacks with drones have only just begun.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Aimmune Therapeutics, Apple, Aurora Cannabis, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Halliburton, HP, JPMorgan, Lowe’s, Lyft, Schlumberger, Uber Technologies and many more.

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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BofA, CME, Conoco, CSX, EverQuote, Home Depot, IAC/InterActive, Snap, Splunk, Square, TJX and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Stocks were in the middle of their worst December since the Great Depression, but Tuesday’s small recovery was followed by some additional stock gains on Wednesday. The market is hoping that the FOMC raises rates today but delivers a muted guidance for overall rate hikes in 2019. Investors have also seen less upside from buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years. Now investors have to consider how they want to have their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, December 19, 2018.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was slashed to $26 from $49 at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 3.4% at $31.82 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $31.54 to $71.22.

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Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

ANGI Homeservices Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $21 target price (versus a $15.65 prior close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $225 from $265. The firm is positive about its “services” story developing more with higher than expected margin starting with its next report.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $163 target price (versus a $130.58 close) at Stifel.

Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but the price target was lowered to $25 from $33 (versus a $21.22 close) at Credit Suisse.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $401 from $394 (versus a $294.75 close, after a 5.86% drop) at Morgan Stanley.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was maintained with an Equal Weight rating at Morgan Stanley, but the price target was slashed to $125 from $185 in the call.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $119 price target (versus a $103.85 close) at BTIG.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was up 1.5% at $185.01 before earnings but was down 8% at $170.30 afterward. It was maintained as Buy at Citigroup, which lowered its target to $225 from $275.

Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ: GLPG) was started as Overweight with a $130 price target (versus a $97.86 close, after a 3.85% drop) at Cantor Fitzgerald. Its shares were indicated up 1.3% at $99.17 after the positive call.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) was given a double upgrade to Buy from Underperform at Merrill Lynch, which is looking for better growth in 2019.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $237 price target (versus a $177.10 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

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Insys Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: INSY) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $11 price target (versus a $4.35 close) at Janney, with the firm noting that its transformation to focus on R&D should bring a higher value to its shares.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was maintained as Equal Weight but the target price was raised to $55 from $54 at Morgan Stanley.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $47 target price (versus a $41.95 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $109 from $100 at JPMorgan.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was up 0.7% at $34.11 ahead of earnings, but the stock was last seen down 7.6% at $31.50 afterward. Its prior 52-week low was $33.60, and its consensus target price ahead of the report was $57.00. Analysts have slashed their targets yet again, based on the expectations for 2019: KeyBanc (Overweight) to $45 from $61, Wells Fargo (Outperform) to $50 from $63, MKM Partners (Buy) to $44 from $50 and Barclays (Overweight) to $46 from $50. Needham downgraded Micron to Hold from Buy.

NOW Inc. (NYSE: DNOW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target price was lowered to $13 from $17 (versus an $11.78 close) at Stifel.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $16 price target at Raymond James.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was maintained as Overweight but the price target was slashed to $59 from $81 (versus a $31.34 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It has a consensus analyst target of $62.15 and a 52-week trading range of $29.01 to $77.57.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies. The stock was down 1.5% at $45.08 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $36.58 to $70.12.

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Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was maintained as Overweight but the price target was trimmed to $210 from $211 at Morgan Stanley.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $6.50 from $6.00 (versus a $6.46 close) at Citigroup.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $98 from $87 (versus an $89.23 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $75 price target (versus a $64.39 close) at Stifel.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls were in shares of Abbott Laboratories, Albermarle, Boston Scientific, BP, Embraer, Intuit, Marathon Oil, Norfolk Southern and many more companies.

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Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) and IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) each watched their shares fall off a cliff Tuesday afternoon following a big announcement from Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). Essentially, Facebook said that it plans to get into the dating business.

At a cursory glance, a dating service could increase the time that people spend on the Facebook platform as well as cause big problems for its competitors in the online dating field.

Match’s Tinder app already uses a bevy of Facebook data to populate pictures, hobbies and likes on its platform. Facebook could easily take this model and remake it, similar to what the social media giant did when competing with Snap.

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According to Reuters:

A prototype displayed on screens at the F8 conference showed a heart shape at the top-right corner of the Facebook app. Pressing on it will take people to their dating profile if they have set one up.

The prototype was built around local, in-person events, allowing people to browse other attendees and send them messages.

Zuckerberg noted that this will be used for long-term relationships, not just hook-ups. Also considering Facebook’s recent drama with Cambridge Analytica, this dating service is being built with privacy in mind, so that friends will not be able to see a person’s dating profile.

Shares of Facebook were last seen at $171.96, with a consensus analyst price target of $216.06 and a 52-week range of $144.42 to $195.32.

Shares of Match were last trading down over 21% at $37.15, with a consensus analyst price target of $42.56 and a 52-week range of $16.57 to $48.65.

Shares of IACI were recently seen down over 14% at $138.42. The stock has a 52-week range of $79.27 to $166.64 and a consensus analyst price target of $185.70.

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Over the years, Wall Street has produced some incredible analysts, but also some that still reside in the analyst Hall of Shame for various nefarious reasons. One thing is for sure: Those that dig the deepest into their respective sectors often provide the best and most comprehensive views of the top companies, and more importantly, in many cases the up and coming companies.

Jefferies recently signed one of the top players on Wall Street to join the firm’s research department. Brent Thill, who was formerly the number one rated software analyst at UBS, comes to the firm, and his first effort is a massive 200-page primer on the sector. The gigantic report focuses on cloud computing, the shift to digital advertising and the convergence of the internet and software. He also looks closely at e-commerce, online travel and the huge video game arena.

Thill also came out with 10 top predictions, many of which might surprise tech investors. We present those, along with associated stocks.

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1) Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) will outperform Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) over the next 12 months.

2) Facebook will grow its reach of the global population to nearly 40% by 2022. That’s compares with about 25% today. He thinks that will add 50% upside to global average revenue per viewer.

3) Digital video consumption will grow to 50% of time spent from 20% by 2022. He thinks this will cause a big disruption in the $200 billion global TV advertising market. Players in this arena are Facebook, Alphabet, Snap Inc. (NASDAQ: SNAP) and Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD).

4) Amazon’s AWS cloud service will grow to a staggering $55 billion in revenue by 2022. He estimates the company’s market cap will close in on the $1 trillion.

5) 2018 will be the breakout year for Alphabet’s Google Cloud.

6) Artificial intelligence, or AI as it is called, has a ton of hype, but only a select few winners will emerge. He cites the companies with the most robust and dynamic data sets, and those include Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook.

7) Amazon will jump into the $100 billion gaming market and will launch a video game streaming service by 2020. This could be positive for Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Electronic Arts, Inc. NASDAQ: EA) and Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

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8) The travel arena has no winner-take-all player. The analyst says to own a basket of companies, including Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).

9) The analyst feels there could be some substantial outperformance from the small business stocks, like Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX) and Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP).

10) A stunning 50% of all dates will begin online by 2022. Stocks like Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) and IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) could be the big winners here.

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Ten incredible predictions, some of which are game-changers and some of which may take as many as five years or more to fully play out. One thing is for sure, the only guaranteed item is that change is a definite, and it will be huge going forward.

The post Top Analyst Has 10 Incredible Internet Predictions for 2017 and Beyond appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The first day of summer is here and it’s hard to believe that almost half the year is already over. With the third quarter less than 10 days away, many of the major firms on Wall Street that we cover here at 24/7 Wall St. are busy putting out reports on second-half activity and expectations. After a solid first half, it will be interesting to see how the market responds to not only earnings and guidance, but numerous other potential catalysts.

In a new Merrill Lynch report, Justin Post and his internet team feature what could prove to be a slew of potential catalysts in what they term as the “catalyst matrix.” While that sounds intriguing, the fact of the matter is they have as many as 56 potential internet catalysts on their radar for the second half of 2017. Here we focused in on the big catalysts for July and the third quarter.

1. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has its Prime Day. Prime Day is a one-day-only global shopping event exclusively for Prime members. With thousands of deals worldwide, members get exclusive access to the biggest discounts on things across nearly every product category.

2. The lock-up on shares of Snap Inc. (NASDAQ: SNAP) means a deluge of stock could hit the tape, and with current price back near the IPO level, things could get interesting.

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3. The merger between Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) and IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) Home Adviser. After two years of wooing, Angie’s List has finally agreed to be acquired by IAC. After the deal closes, Angie’s List will be combined with HomeAdvisor, IAC’s home services marketplace, into a new public company called ANGI Homeservices.

4. Destiny 2 is set to be one of the biggest video games of the year, building on the ideas and universe established in Bungie’s online console shooter that debuted back in 2014. The incredibly popular game returns to both PS4 and Xbox One, and it is making its series debut on PC. Many of the higher level details about the story, environments and a bevy of new and returning features are already known. However, there are a few things gamer’s don’t know quite yet, such as how the all-important end-game raid will play out. The start time for those who preorder is expected to be July 18.

5. Amazon will begin streaming NFL football games in 2017, and this could have a huge impact for the millennial generation, many of whom eschew cable or satellite programming and stream all their content.

6) Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) launches the Android O, which is the code name of an upcoming release of the Android mobile operating system. It was first released as an alpha quality developer preview on March 21, 2017. The second developer preview was released on May 17, 2017, and it is considered beta quality.

7) Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) launches new content, which will be closely tracked by Wall Street. Titles include “The Standups,” “Castlevania,” “Friends From College,” “To the Bone,” “Ari Shaffir: Double Negative (2 Specials)” and many more.

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The bottom line is that the excitement around July will certainly be getting bigger as we get closer. The big reality is that the internet and the new applications, content and mergers and acquisitions still make it the most exciting and innovative place for investors with risk tolerance to look. More importantly, the top companies in the industry are just scratching the surface of what is to come.

The post Merrill Lynch Out With Huge Internet Catalysts for July and Beyond appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

In the early 1990s, personal computers were just becoming ubiquitous at home and in the workplace, and the wide range of goods and services that would be offered via the internet was just a dream for futurists and tech nerds. The reality is that the sharing economy has changed our world so drastically in the past 25 years, that business, and they way we do and acquire things in the 21st century, has been permanently changed forever.

A fascinating new Merrill Lynch report offers a deep-dive into the sharing economy and takes a look at companies that are, in the analysts’ words, transforming the world. They said this in the report:

The Sharing Economy encompasses a range of disruptive models (on-demand, rental, gig economy, access, collaboration, platform, circular and peer-to-peer) that are transforming 21st century business. Sharing Economy disruptors have attracted US $45 billion in financing over the last 5 years, and eight of the world’s ten largest start-ups are in the Sharing Economy universe. We estimate the current global Sharing Economy market at US $250 billion and the addressable market at US $2 trillion – and identify 12 sectors representing US $6 trillion (8% of global gross domestic product) being impacted.

Here are the key sectors and stocks that the Merrill Lynch analysts see dominating. All these companies are rated Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Transportation

The analysts see this as a $7 trillion industry, with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) for autonomous vehicles and Waze P2P traffic sharing data. Merrill Lynch has a $1,035 target, and the shares closed Friday at $958.62. The analysts also cite Yandex N.V (NASDAQ: YNDX), the Uber of Russia, for launching car-pooling. Its shares closed Friday at $25.57. Needless to say, Uber and Lyft are in this mix but are still private.

Travel

For leisure or work, many people are eschewing hotels and renting or sharing homes. Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), which owns HomeAway, is number two in vacation rental. The analysts at Merrill Lynch have $163 price target, which compares with a Friday close of $146.21. Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), with a $1,920 price target, is huge in vacation rental via Booking.com. The shares closed Friday at $1,802.61.

Food

Grubhub Inc. (NASDAQ: GRUB), which is rated Buy with a $49 price target, is the number one U.S. food delivery company and is soon launching its own delivery drivers. Uber is also moving toward that service. For now, GrubHub is the leading online and mobile provider of food delivery and pick-up services (take-out). Its software powers take-out orders for nearly 35,000 local independent restaurants in more than 900 cities across the United States. The stock close trading on Friday at $43.32.

Retail

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) revolutionized online retail for second-hand and new goods. The company also owns GumTree and StubHub, which are highly successful resale companies. The stock has a $38 price target. Shares ended Friday at $33.96.

Media

This massive $2 trillion industry has been revolutionized by Buy-rated Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), which is the top social network, photo sharing (Instagram), message sharing (WhatsApp), Marketplace and Workplace. The Merrill Lynch price target for the shares is $170, and that compares with the price at Friday’s close of $150.64. The analysts also point to Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) the number one dating site, which has Tinder for “on-demand” matchmaking. This stock has a $21 target and closed Friday at $17.03.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is the ultimate media story and is the number one subscription company for video on demand. The stock has $184 price target and closed Friday at $152.38.

Cloud Services and Equipment

Numerous companies are leaders here, including Box Inc. (NYSE: BOX), which offers consumer cloud file sharing and is moving into enterprise. The stock has a $21 price target and ended the week at $18.59.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) is also Buy rated with a $133 price target, and it is considered the “Uber of home services,” especially with the HomeAdvisor/Angie’s List merger. The stock closed trading Friday at $101.44.

The analysts also include Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), with a $145 target. They cite the company’s QuickBooks consumer tax assistance for gig economy workers. Gig economy jobs are a labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. Shares closed last Friday at $139.49.

Platform

This is where the sector leaders like Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), which is Buy rated with a $1,150 price target, are so dominant. The analysts cite the company’s new and secondhand goods, AWS, delivery/logistics (Prime/Flex), food groceries (Fresh) and Friday’s stunning announcement of the purchase of Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM), as well as Music/Video and Kindle. Amazon shares closed Friday at $987.71.

They also highlight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) ,which has transport (Did), food (Ele.me), Ant Financial, Alipay, P2P wealth management, crowdfunding and social credit scoring (Sesame Credit). The price target for the Asian giant is posted at $161, and shares were last seen at $134.87.

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Merrill Lynch concluded this in the report:

The Sharing Economy is transforming 21st century business via disruptive business models like on-demand, rental, gig, access, collaboration, platforms, circular and P2P. These tech-focused models are unlocking the value of unused and underused assets, driving a shift from asset-heavy to asset-light businesses and enabling access over ownership.

The bottom line is the sharing economy is gigantic and will only grow bigger as demand increases and the need for flexibility and timeliness becomes more and more important. In a 21st century world, time and efficiency are of the essence, and these companies and others that will one day perhaps be publicly traded are offering just that.

The post Stocks That Will Win and Dominate the Sharing Economy appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

[cnxvideo id=”655354″ placement=”ros”]Stocks were mixed on Friday despite a stronger than expected payrolls report. There are also six different Fed presidents or governors speaking on Friday, including Janet Yellen and Stanley Fischer. Now that the bull market is now more than eight years old and investors have bought every single pullback, investors are looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing ideas and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls on Friday, May 5, 2017.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. It was up 0.8% at $124.46 on Thursday, versus a 0.4% drop to $123.91 in Friday’s early indications. Celgene has a 52-week trading range of $94.42 to $127.64.

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Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $57 price target (versus a $40.00 prior close, after a 5% drop) at Credit Suisse. Continental Resources has a 52-week range of $37.98 to $60.30.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. It closed down 2.2% at $45.84 on Thursday but was indicated up 0.6% at $46.13 on Friday morning.

Renewable Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $16 price target (versus a $10.15 close) at Canaccord Genuity. The 52-week range is $7.90 to $10.65, and the consensus analyst price target was $12.33.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed up 0.2% at $52.31 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $38.48 to $56.61. The consensus price target is $54.46.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was last seen up almost 10% at $3.12 after post-earnings indications. Merrill Lynch raised its rating to Neutral from Underperform. It was reiterated as Outperform with a $4.25 price target at Wedbush Securities.

Other key analyst calls from this Friday were seen in shares of the following companies:

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was reiterated as Buy and the American depositary share price target was raised to $132 from $120 at Jefferies.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soc-Gen.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim.

Maximus Inc. (NYSE: MMS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $63 from $64 (versus a $61.39 close) at Jefferies.

Mindbody Inc. (NASDAQ: MB) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest.

National CineMedia Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by FBR Capital Markets, and JPMorgan lowered its rating to Neutral from Overweight.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was started as Buy and assigned a price target of $70 (versus a $53.63 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Regal-Beloit Corp. (NYSE: RBC) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity, and Oppenheimer maintained a Perform rating but talked up the company. Shares were up 6.7% at $434.31 on Thursday and were indicated up almost 1% more on Friday morning.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE: TRK) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.

Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $73 price target at Robert W. Baird.

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) was down 11% at $48.91 on Thursday but was indicated up 0.5% at $49.14 on Friday. Targa was raised to Strong Buy from an already positive Outperform at Raymond James, and the price target is $55.

Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAV) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $14 from $9.50 (versus a $10.86 close) at Jefferies.

Yum China Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YUMC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. The stock was down 1.6% at $34.50 on Thursday’s close, in a 52-week range of $23.79 to $35.57.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Facebook, First Solar, Garmin, HollyFrontier, Regions Financial, Square and over a dozen more companies.

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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Celgene, Continental Resources, Hess, Renewable Energy, US Bancorp, Zynga and Many More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

[cnxvideo id=”625480″ placement=”ros”]Shares of Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) were up sharply after the announcement that it will merge with IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC). This might all sound familiar when you consider that Barry Diller’s IAC tried to acquire the company before.

The companies confirmed that Angie’s List will combine with IAC’s Home Advisor unit, and where this gets interesting is that both stocks were reacting positively to the news. Often the shares of the company making an acquisition fall on dilution and execution risks.

Under the terms of the transaction, Angie’s List stockholders will have the right to elect to receive either one share of Class A common stock of the combined company ANGI Homeservices or $8.50 per share in cash, for each share of Angie’s List stock that they own, with the total amount of cash available in the transaction capped at $130 million.

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This deal is not expected to close until the fourth quarter, but some analysts have already weighed in.

Credit Suisse raised its price target on IAC to $88 from $85 on a modified the sum of the parts valuation. The firm reiterated an Outperform rating and noted that the combined HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List will create a $1 billion-plus revenue services leader in space. Its valuation is based on the blended average of the prior sum of the parts analysis, the earnings multiple and on a cash flow analysis. Credit Suisse said in its report:

We note that the sum of the parts analysis derives a higher IAC value of $102. For HomeAdvisor’s $2.2bn value, we apply 10x 2018 Angie’s List HomeServices EBITDA of $270 million to derive a $2.7 billion value from which we deduct $500 million in Angie’s List market value. The primary risk to our estimates is execution risk related to salesforce driven local models.

Here’s what a few other analysts said about the companies after the fact:

• Loop Capital downgraded Angie’s List to Hold.
• Jefferies said that it is positive on the deal as it positions IAC as the premier player in the home services market place.
• Barclays raised its price target on IAC to $96 from $82.
• SunTrust Robinson has a Buy rating for IAC and raised its price target to $87.

Shares of Angie’s List were trading up 60% at $9.45 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $7.71 and a 52-week trading range of $5.22 to $10.76.

IAC shares were last seen up 17% at $98.43, with a consensus price target of $85.50 and a 52-week range of $46.88 to $100.42.

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The post What Analysts Are Saying After the IAC and Angie’s List Deal appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

[cnxvideo id=”506325″ placement=”ros”]Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday, but this follows big gains on Monday. With this bull market more than eight years old, investors have shown for more than the past five years that they will buy all market pullbacks. Those same investors are also still looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Color has been added on many of the following calls, and the consensus analyst price targets referenced are from Thomson Reuters. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, April 18, 2017:

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $140 price target (versus a $111.76 prior close) at Benchmark. Alibaba was indicated down 0.4% at $111.28 on Tuesday, in a 52-week trading range of $73.30 to $111.88 and with a consensus analyst price target of $128.07.

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm raised its target to $170 from $160 after shares closed up 0.5% to $141.80. Apple has a 52-week range of $89.47 to $145.46 and a consensus target price of $147.61.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $21 price target at Jefferies, after it closed at $17.35. Match’s Tinder was the asset to watch as it accelerated monetization efforts. Industry tailwinds are also noted as a positive for Match. The 52-week range is $10.72 to $19.74.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein, and the price target was raised to $160 from $129 (versus a $131.35 prior close). Wells Fargo raised its rating to Outperform just a day earlier, but what stands out in the Bernstein call is that its $160 target is $13 higher than the highest analyst target on all of Wall Street. McDonald’s has a 52-week range of $110.33 to $131.96 and a consensus target price of $134.35.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) closed up 3% at $147.25 ahead of earnings and was indicated up 1% at $148.64 afterward. Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $165 from $160. Wedbush reiterated its Underperform rating, but it raised its dismal target of $68 up to $73 based on cash burn concerns.

Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) was started as Buy with an $8 price target at Canaccord Genuity. This represents more than 100% in implied upside from a $3.55 close, but Synacor recently raised cash and this firm was a book-runner of the deal. Synacor has a 52-week range of $1.35 to $4.25, and the consensus analyst price is $5.83 from a small group of analysts.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. (NASDAQ: BUFF) was already rated as Buy but was named to the Top Pick list at Citigroup.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and the price target was raised to $107 from $87 at Morgan Stanley.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $144 from $160 (versus a $147.00 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $54 price target (versus a $45.80 close) at Argus.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies and the price target was set at $92 (versus a $75.05 close).

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: OMED) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $6 from $16 at Cantor Fitzgerald. This is after shares fell 17% to $4.01 on Monday after a lung cancer drug failed its mid-stage study.

PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $66 from $72 (versus a $65.34 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at FBN Securities.

Quotient Ltd. (NASDAQ: QTNT) was started as Buy and given a $22 price target (versus a $6.28 close) at BTIG Research. Quotient was indicated up 11% at $6.95 due to the massive upside price target, but it should be noted that BTIG was the lead manager in a recent capital raise from Quotient.

RMR Group (NYSE: RMR) was started with a Perform rating at Oppenheimer.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was started with a Buy rating and given an $80 target price (versus a $60.14 close) at BTIG Research.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray, and the price target was raised to $28 from $21 (versus a $21.30 close).

Tableau Software Inc. (NYSE: DATA) was started as Buy at BTIG Research, and it was given a $65 price target (versus a $51.07 close).

Monday’s top analyst calls included Canadian Solar, Constellation Brands, Eli Lilly, Incyte, McDonald’s, Snap and about a dozen more.

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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Apple, Match, McDonald’s Netflix, Synacor, IAC, Check Point, Stratasys and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

[cnxvideo id=”655407″ placement=”ros”]Stocks were indicated lower on Monday in the wake of Friday’s sell-off after the GOP health care plan failed to materialize. Now many of the pro-growth policies that were used in the campaign may be viewed as at-risk, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average may be down about 700 points from its recent all-time highs. While recent selling has come back, the one trend that has prevailed for more than five years is for investors to buy the pullbacks. The bull market is now more than eight years old, and investors are still looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Color has been added on many of the following calls, and the consensus analyst price targets referenced are from Thomson Reuters. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 27, 2017:

Best Buy Co, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and with a $55 price target (versus a $44.85 close) at Piper Jaffray. Best Buy has a 52-week trading range of $28.76 to $49.40 and had a consensus analyst target price of $46.27.

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Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $5 price target (versus a $3.99 close) at Citigroup. Groupon has a 52-week range of $2.92 to $5.94 and a consensus analyst price target of $4.91.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) has seen its quiet period come to an end, so analysts from the underwriting syndicate are covering it now. Cowen started Snap as Outperform and assigned a $26 target, while Morgan Stanley started Snap with an Overweight rating and a $28 target. RBC started Snap as Outperform and assigned a $31 target, and Jefferies assigned a Buy rating and $20 target. Goldman Sachs started Snap as Buy with a $27 target. Citigroup started Snap as a Buy.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was started as Outperform and assigned a $66 price target (versus a $56.81 close) at Telsey Advisory Group. Starbucks has a 52-week range of $50.84 to $61.64 and a consensus price target of $64.31.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed at $5.89 but were indicated up almost 8% at $6.36. Weatherford International has a 52-week range of $3.73 to $8.49 and a consensus analyst target of $7.46.

This weekend 24/7 Wall St. featured seven stocks with over 50% to 100% upside from recent analyst calls over the past couple of weeks.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to get analyst calls and research summaries posted directly to your feed.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $151 price target (versus a $127.70 close) at BTIG.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was maintained as Buy at Nomura, but the price target was cut to $925 from $950 in that call.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $125 price target (versus a $131.77 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $16.50 price target at Jefferies.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was started as Equal Weight and assigned a $45 price target at Morgan Stanley.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) was raised to Outperform from In-Line with a $110 price target (versus a $95.59 close) at Evercore ISI.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) was started as Outperform and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $21.08 close) at Cowen.

Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $53 price target (versus a $45.65 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $98 price target (versus an $86.04 close) at Mizuho.

IAC/InterActiveCorp. (NASDAQ: IACI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $89 price target (versus a $72.74 close) at Citigroup.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was started as Buy and assigned a $22 price target at Citigroup.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (NYSE: PPC) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

PrivateBancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $63 price target (versus a $55.51 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SPWH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

TrueCar Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUE) was started as Buy with an $18 price target (versus a $15.24 close) at Citigroup.

Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $138 price target (versus a $121.89 close) at Mizuho.

Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX) was started as Neutral with a $68 price target (versus a $66.65 close) at Citigroup.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $25 target price (versus a $21.95 close) at Citigroup.

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Stocks were indicated lower on Thursday after having been in positive territory in the wee-hours of the futures trading. Another rally has been used as an opportunity to sell, even if the prior four-year trend was to buy the dips.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports are on stocks to buy, whiles cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, February 4, 2016.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) traded lower after disappointing earnings and announcing a new chief financial officer. It was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $10.00 price target at Sterne Agee CRT. Shares were indicated down 14.5% or so at $9.15, and its 52-week trading range was $9.90 to $65.49.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $160 from $205 (versus a $149.46 prior close) at Canaccord Genuity. Piper Jaffray had just raised its rating to Overweight the previous day. The consensus analyst target is $186.95, and the 52-week range is $130.00 to $242.37.
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Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was raised to Buy at Argus with a $38.00 price target (versus a $31.76 close). Mattel has now risen above its $29.73 consensus analyst target, and its 52-week range is $19.45 to $32.20 after the new high on Wednesday.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $14 from $17 (versus $10.66 close, after a 12.5% drop) at Barclays. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and $17 target.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a measly $1.00 price target (versus a  $4.18 close) at FBR Capital Markets. Peabody still has a consensus target north of $8 and a 52-week range of $2.83 to $123.45 on a reverse split-adjusted basis.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at JPMorgan. Petrobras has a consensus price target under $5.00 now, and its 52-week range is $2.71 to $10.55. On Wednesday, S&P maintained its BB rating on some Petrobras ratings but gave it a Negative Outlook, and its stand-alone credit profile (SACP) was cut to B- from B+ in the call.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $53.00 price target (versus a $40.25 close) at Goldman Sachs. This call is on the heels of it launching its exclusive new home brands this week. Wayfair has a 52-week range of $20.28 to $56.84 and still has a consensus price target of $56.60.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $32 price target at Citigroup. Many firms lowered their targets on Wednesday, but there were still many Buy and Outperform types of ratings, and the consensus price target from 13 analyst targets seen on Wednesday was still over $35.00. Yahoo closed down almost 5% at $27.68 and has a 52-week range of $26.57 to $46.17.

Follow @JonOgg on Twitter to receive the daily analyst calls in your Twitter feed each morning.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following on Thursday:

Abaxis Inc. (NASDAQ: ABAX) was started as Underperform with a $39 price target (versus a $42.42 close) at Credit Suisse.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $165 from $190.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was downgraded to Neutral at Longbow, and its target was cut to $142 at Credit Suisse. Jefferies lowered its target to $152 from $163 and maintained its Hold rating.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Northland Securities.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was maintained Sector Perform but its price target was cut to $38 at RBC Capital Markets.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $55 from $73 (versus a $50.68 close) after earnings.

Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.
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National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm cut its target price to $27 from $34. Credit Suisse lowered its price target to $21 from $26.

Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $11 price target at Piper Jaffray.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $44 price objective (versus a $39.63 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Jefferies kept its Hold rating in place but trimmed its price target to $46 from $47.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (NYSE: WAB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $68 from $87 (versus a $63.73 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $174 price target (versus a $135.08 close) at Goldman Sachs.

If you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of AIG, Baidu, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dow Chemical, Mallinckrodt, Palo Alto Networks, Tesla, Xilinx and over a dozen more companies.

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Has IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) decided to be too aggressive in its acquisition policy? That is the question that some may ask after the company announced a formal takeover offer of Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) after the close of trading on Wednesday. IAC’s offer is for a public buyout price of $8.75 per share in an all-cash deal that is not subject to any financing contingencies. That being said, IAC has indicated that it is willing to consider a combination of Angie’s List with IAC’s HomeAdvisor business through a tax-free stock-for-stock exchange.

Just one problem here: Angie’s List turned down IAC. Angie’s List has seen its shares be suppressed earlier in the year as competition has risen, but the company has at least made the turn to become profitable.

IAC said that its all-cash proposal would bring more than a 50% premium over the unaffected price as of October 12, 2015 — the day immediately preceding disclosure of TCS Capital’s letter to the Angie’s List board of directors.

Angie’s List had $315 million in 2014 revenues (from $245 million in 2013), and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $345 million for 2015 and $368 million for 2016. Here is what Joey Levin, CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp, had to say on the matter:

The combination of the Angie’s List brand, highly trafficked website and its network of paying service professionals with our HomeAdvisor business, the category leader which has seen eight consecutive quarters of accelerating growth in its core U.S. business, would cement our position as the premier home services platform. We are fully committed to this transaction and are confident that both Angie’s List stockholders and our stockholders will recognize the value of our proposal.

As far as what IAC would really get, the trick here is consolidating a key rival (or the key rival) in its market place for HomeAdvisor. The company said this would create the premier platform in the home services market, with over $700 million of revenue and an unparalleled network of active and high-quality service professionals capable of delivering consumers a best-in-class experience. It also claimed that the combined company would have over $35 billion in gross transaction value and over an estimated 15 million unique visitors per month.

ALSO READ: Jefferies Has 4 Very Bold Value Calls This Week

Angie’s List shares closed at $7.92 on Wednesday, but the stock was up 12% at $8.88 shortly before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the after-hours session. Angie’s List shares have a 52-week range of $3.73 to $8.17. This was a $5.00 stock back in September, and its market cap at the closing bell price was $463 million, versus $5.8 billion for IAC.

IAC’s letter delivered to the company stated the following:

November 11, 2015

Board of Directors
Angie’s List, Inc.
1030 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

We very much appreciated Scott Durchslag and Thomas Fox taking the time to meet with us on October 23. We were disappointed to hear that the Board is not interested in further engaging with us regarding a strategic transaction involving Angie’s List. We continue to believe a transaction involving our companies has a compelling strategic rationale, and we are confident we are well-positioned to swiftly consummate a transaction that will be in the best interests of Angie’s List stockholders. In an effort to demonstrate our strong commitment to bringing our two companies together, outlined below is an updated proposal for the Board’s consideration.

We propose to acquire 100% of the outstanding capital stock of Angie’s List for a price of $8.75 per share in cash, representing a compelling premium of greater than 50% over the unaffected price of Angie’s List common stock as of October 12, 2015, the day immediately preceding disclosure of TCS Capital’s letter to the Angie’s List Board advocating pursuit of a strategic transaction, and over the trailing 90 day average trading price for the stock. Our price represents a greater than 18x multiple of the midpoint of your forecasted EBITDA range for this year – a very rich multiple for a business currently growing revenue at 7% year over year on a standalone basis.

While we see many benefits of a clear, high-premium, all-cash offer that would deliver immediate liquidity and certain value to your stockholders, we are also prepared to discuss a combination of Angie’s List with our HomeAdvisor business. This could be structured as a tax-free exchange for Angie’s List stockholders and would allow Angie’s List stockholders to participate in the upside resulting from the opportunities available to the combined company.

A combined HomeAdvisor-Angie’s List would have unparalleled consumer reach and an incomparable network of paid service professionals. It would have the ability to deploy technological innovations across an enormous footprint, creating an unmatched ability to deliver the best experience to the largest number of consumers and service providers alike. We are confident that the operating outlook for Angie’s List in a combination scenario would be substantially improved over its standalone prospects.

We believe the work required to finalize a mutually agreeable transaction would be quick, and we can manage it efficiently so as not to disrupt the Angie’s List day-to-day operations. The definitive terms of our proposal could be agreed in the course of a week and completed within a few months, as promptly as the regulatory processes permit. Our proposal is not conditioned on the receipt of financing.

Our strong preference would have been to work with you on a confidential and cooperative basis. However, we have been unable to develop any meaningful dialogue with you for many months now and were disappointed by your unwillingness to continue discussions with us following our meeting. Further, in light of the increase in the Angie’s List share price during the days that followed our October 5 letter to the Board expressing an interest in discussions, and further increases following our October 23 meeting and acquisition proposal, we determined it was advisable to publicly release the text of this letter concurrent with its delivery to the Board to ensure that your stockholders are fully apprised of the significant value afforded by our proposed transaction.

This letter does not represent or create any legally binding or enforceable obligations. No such obligations will be imposed on any party unless and until a definitive agreement is executed.

I assure you that this transaction has the highest priority for IAC. We look forward to working towards a transaction that creates value for all of our stockholders and, as we have indicated previously, we are prepared to meet with you immediately to discuss the same.

ALSO READ: 10 Brands That Will Disappear in 2016

The post Why IAC Actually Wants to Acquire Angie’s List appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Stocks were handily lower on Tuesday after the Dow gained over 1,000 points from its lows in the prior week. Still, one trend that seems etched in stone is that investors will buy the top stocks and look for good value in stocks on weakness. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy and other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was started as Market Perform with a $28.00 price target (versus a $25.86 prior close) at Cowen. CenturyLink has a consensus price target that is over 10% higher at $31.08, and it has a 52-week trading range of $24.11 to $41.99, with a huge 8% or so yield.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $27.00 price target (versus a $26.86 close) at JPMorgan. JetBlue has a consensus price target of $29.17 and a 52-week range of $9.52 to $27.36.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) was maintained as a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs, but the firm added Level 3 to its prized Conviction Buy list with a $60.00 price target (versus a $45.21 close). This consensus price target is right in line with this call at $60.13, and the 52-week range is $37.61 to $57.08.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was maintained as Buy with a $120.00 price target at Canaccord Genuity ahead of this week’s earnings report. The firm sees solid results and guidance coming this way. Netflix has a consensus price target of $120.39 and a 52-week range of $45.08 to $129.29.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight and the price target was cut to $18.00 from $22.00 (versus a $20.10 close) at Morgan Stanley. The consensus analyst price target is $23.94, and the 52-week range is $16.73 to $23.36.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $100 from $113 (versus a $95.43 close) at RBC Capital Markets. United Tech has a consensus analyst price target of $109.00 and as a 52-week range of $85.50 to $124.45.

ALSO READ: 8 Fresh Analyst Stock Picks With 50% to 100% Upside

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities. This is after VMware gets treated like a second class citizen after the Dell-EMC merger with a diluted tracking stock. VMware closed down 8% at $72.27 on Monday, and it hit a 52-week low of $69.75 on Monday as well.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $23.00 price target (versus a $20.16 close) at Morgan Stanley. Whiting closed down 10% on Monday, and it has a consensus analyst target closer to $30.00 and a 52-week range of $13.50 to $64.39.

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Monday morning were seen in the following:
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Evercore ISI.

Cempra Inc. (CEMP) was started as Market Perform with a $31.00 price target at Leerink.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD) was started as Hold at Societe Generale.

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. (NYSE: FBHS) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $50 price target (versus a $50.84 close) at Barclays.

Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $72.00 price target (versus a $59.94 close) at Sterne Agee CRT.

ALSO READ: 4 Cheap Chip Stocks to Buy Now Before Q3 Earnings

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was started as Buy with an $85.00 price target (versus a $71.44 close) at Guggenheim.

Nabriva Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: NBRV) was started as Outperform and with a $17.00 price target (versus a $10.00 close) at Wedbush Securities. Leerink started it as Outperform with a $19.00 price target, and RBC gave an Outperform rating and $21 price target.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was raised to Strong Buy from an already positive Outperform rating with a price target of $83.00 (versus a $68.80 close) at Raymond James.

Post Properties Inc. (NYSE: PPS) was started as Neutral with a price target of $58.00 (versus a $60.53 close) at Mizuho.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was started as Buy and was assigned a $155.00 price target (versus a $130.31 close) at Argus.

SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James, but this is after an 11.4% gain on Monday to $19.26 and after coming within a penny of the 52-week high of $19.52.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $22.00 price target (versus an $18.43 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Synthetic Biologics Inc. (NYSEMKT: SYN) was started as Outperform with an $8.00 price target (versus a $2.27 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Western Alliance Bancorp. (NYSE: WAL) was started as Overweight and was given a price target of $38.00 (versus a $32.95 close) at Piper Jaffray.

ALSO READ: Jefferies Franchise Pick Stocks to Buy That Also Pay Big Dividends

In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included EMC, Goldman Sachs, Linn Energy, MGIC, Marvell Technology, NetApp and many more. We also had five under-the-radar analyst upgrades from Monday that included Exxon Mobil, GTT Comms, Harris, Melco Crown and Raytheon.

The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CenturyLink, JetBlue, Level 3, Netflix, PulteGroup, United Tech, VMware, Whiting Petroleum and Many More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), by far the Internet’s largest search engine, also attracts the more video viewers to its various websites, including YouTube, than any other content property. In the month of August, Google sites attracted more than 168 million unique viewers in the United States, nearly double the total posted by second-place finisher Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). The total number of unique U.S. viewers reached about 191.5 million, down slightly from 192.11 million posted in July. More than half of all Americans watched a video from a Google site in August.

The remaining sites in the online video viewer rankings, according to comScore, are:

2. Facebook: 88.94 million unique viewers
3. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) sites: 48.30 million
4. IAC/Interactive Corp.’s (NASDAQ: IACI) Vimeo: 43.22 million
5. VEVO: 42.96 million
6. Maker Studios, from Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): 37.86 million
7. Fullscreen – 35.08 million
8. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) sites: 33.25 million
9. Comcast Corp. (NYSE: CMCSA): 32.45 million
10. Turner Digital: 31.49 million

comScore also measures advertising reach; that is, the percentage of the U.S. population that is served an ad by a given advertising platform. The leader here is ad exchange BrightRoll with a reach of 36.7% of the U.S. population. Google ranked second with a reach of 30.6% and AOL, now part of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), ranked third with 27.3% reach.

comScore also released its August list of the top 50 multiplatform Web properties. The research firm said that 259.2 million unique U.S. desktop and mobile device users visited a Web page in August. Google’s various sites attracted 245.4 million unique viewers, and Facebook attracted 217.8 million. Yahoo, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft rounded out the top five.

ALSO READ: 9 Well-Known Stocks With Solid Dividend Yields Above 5%

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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is by far the Internet’s largest search engine, and its various websites, including YouTube, continue to attract the largest audience for viewing online video on a desktop personal computer (PC), either at work or at home. In the month of July, Google-delivered videos drew a total of 169.22 million unique desktop PC viewers in the United States. The total number of unique viewers in the country reached 192.11 million. Almost 60% of the entire U.S. population of around 320 million watched an online video last month, and more than half (52.8%) watched a video streamed by Google.

The remaining sites in the online video viewer rankings, according to comScore, are:

2. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) with 89.36 million unique viewers
3. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) sites, 47.17 million
4. VEVO, 39.22 million
5. Maker Studios from Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), 39.17 million
6. AnyClip Media, 38.46 million
7. Vimeo from IAC/Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI), 38.15 million
8. Engage:BDR, 37.02 million
9. Fullscreen, 34.06 million
10. Comcast Corp. (NYSE: CMCSA), 33.12 million

comScore also measures advertising reach; that is, the percentage of the U.S. population that is served an ad by a given advertising platform. Google again leads with a reach of 31.7% of the U.S. population. Of the other nine ad platforms, AOL, now owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), reaches 25.9% of the U.S. population.

Google is responding to demand for new advertising products by developing new products that will have the ability to show promoted video ads in search results. Video ads dominate in the mobile space, and on Facebook and Google’s YouTube. An analyst for Forrester told WARC that if promoted video ads in search worked, “it would be a gusher of money for Google.”

ALSO READ: RBC’s 5 Top Internet Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2015

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IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) traded higher after earnings, but the reality of this company’s stance right now is that IAC’s big focus is likely going to be around the growth of The Match Group’s websites including Match.com. The reason is that IAC announced late in June that it intends to pursue an initial public offering of The Match Group.

IAC’s disclosure also said that IAC would sell less than 20% of the common stock in Match as well, and the IPO is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2015.

A news release on Tuesday covering IAC’s second quarter earnings shows a revenue gain of 19% for The Match Group – and that revenue growth was shown to have also been up 25% excluding the effects of foreign exchange. This was shown to be driven by contributions from The Princeton Review and FriendScout24, as well as 18% growth in Dating paid subscribers to over 4.1 million globally.

Also up for consideration was that earlier in July The Match Group announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the site PlentyOfFish for some $575 million in cash. This transaction was also shown to be an expected closing in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Match revenue was up to $254.7 million in the June quarter for 2015 versus $214.3 million in the same quarter of 2014. Its adjusted EBITDA was another story, down 7% to $64.8 million from $69.4 million in the same quarter a year ago. Operating income for The Match Group was also down 16%, to $51.4 million.

IAC said of the Match Group:

Dating revenue grew 7% due primarily to 12% growth in North America driven by increased paid subscribers, partially offset by 2% lower International revenue due to foreign exchange effects, despite an increase in paid subscribers. Excluding foreign exchange effects, total Dating revenue would have increased 14% and International revenue would have increased 18%. Non-dating revenue, which benefited from the acquisition of The Princeton Review, acquired on August 1, 2014, grew 370%. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 7% due primarily to $9.0 million of costs in the current year period related to the ongoing consolidation and streamlining of our technology systems and European operations at our Dating businesses. Operating income in the current year period was negatively impacted by a $4.2 million year-over-year increase in amortization of intangibles.

The Match Group consists of dating, education and fitness businesses with brands such as Match.com, OkCupid, Tinder, The Princeton Review and DailyBurn.

ALSO READ: 10 Cities With the Highest Adultery

On the IAC/InterActiveCorp as a whole, revenue of $771.1 million was up 2% from the $756.3 million a year ago. IAC’s adjusted EBITDA as an entire company was down by 23% to $108.7 million, and operating income was down 34% at $62.8 million.

IAC/InterActiveCorp shares closed up 0.7% at $80.60 on Tuesday, with shares rising 1.6% to $81.90 in the after-hours trading session. It has a 52-week range of $56.50 to $84.66, a consensus analyst price target of $83.47, and a market cap of $6.6 billion.

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A subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), The Match Group, announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase PlentyOfFish. The total transaction is valued at $575 million.

The transaction is expected to close early in the fourth quarter, and is subject to regulatory approval.

For some background, The Match Group operates a series of dating products such as Match.com, Tinder, OkCupid and Meetic. Also it is the world’s leading provider of dating products. The Match Group offers dating products under nearly 50 brands, translated into nearly 40 languages and available in over 200 countries.

Sam Yagan, CEO of The Match Group, commented on the acquisition:

For over a decade I have followed the consistent growth of PlentyOfFish, first within North America, then globally, and most recently across platforms, as one of the most popular mobile dating products in the world. As more people than ever use more dating apps than ever with more frequency than ever, PlentyOfFish’s addition both brings new members into our family of products and deepens the lifetime relationship we have with our users across our portfolio.  I look forward to working closely with Markus and extending the company’s impressive growth trajectory.

Separately, Markus Frind, CEO of PlentyOfFish, said:

We are thrilled to be joining forces with Match. My team and I have grown PlentyOfFish into one of the leaders in our category, and I am confident that Match will help accelerate our growth even further.

So far in 2015, IAC shares have outperformed the market. Year to date, shares are up 37% to current prices but up only 29% in the past 52-weeks.

Shares of IAC were up 2.3% at $84.49 on Tuesday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $83.27 and a 52-week trading range of $56.50 to $84.60.

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Stocks were indicated lower on the last day of the first quarter, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are borderline up-down for the year. With the bull market now six years old, the one trend that has remained static for the past three years or so is that investors have bought up every single dip. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in order to find new trading or investment ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at William Blair.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ: HZNP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) was started as Outperform at JMP Securities.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the firm slashed its price target down to $57 from $85 (versus a $49.84 close) in the call.

ALSO READ: 8 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Massive Upside

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Pioneer Energy Services Corp. (NYSE: PES) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Rice Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: RMP) was started as with an Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Skullcandy Inc. (NASDAQ: SKUL) was started as Buy at Wunderlich.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $77 price target at Oppenheimer.

Virgin America Inc. (NASDAQ: VA) was started as Hold at Stifel.

World Point Terminals L.P. (NYSE: WPT) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $19 from $24 at Credit Suisse. The downgrade was based on on a lower distribution forecast.

ALSO READ: 7 Oil and Gas Stocks, or MLPs, Analysts Want You to Buy

Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) was reinstated with a Neutral rating and target price of $4.50 (versus $3.73 close) at Credit Suisse.

ZAGG Inc. (NASDAQ: ZAGG) was started as Buy at Wunderlich.

Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Altera, Delta Air, Devon Energy, General Motors, Micron Technology and about 20 more companies.

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Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is by far the Internet’s largest search engine and its various websites, including YouTube, continue to attract the largest audience for viewing online video on a desktop PC either at work or at home. In the month of February, Google-delivered videos drew a total of 144.6 million unique desktop PC viewers in the United States. The total number of unique viewers in the country reached 188.6 million. About 59% of the entire U.S. population of around 319 million watched an online video last month, and more than 45% watched a video streamed by Google.

The remaining sites in the online video viewer rankings according to comScore are:

• Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) at 90.4 million unique viewers
• AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) at 66.8 million
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) sites at 52.5 million
• AnyClip Media at 43.3 million
• VEVO at 42.9 million
• Maker Studios, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), at 41.2 million
• Vimeo, IAC/Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI), at 37.6 million
• Fullscreen at 33.2 million
• Comcast Corp. (NYSE: CMCSA) at 31.9 million

The numbers are pretty impressive, but less impressive than, say, last October, when more than half of all Americans (51.2%) watched a Google-delivered video. The overall total has also fallen by nearly 3 million unique viewers in just four months. The rise in video viewing on a mobile device or on an Internet-connected TV is almost certainly the reason for the decline in viewing from a desktop PC.

One last note: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), ranked seventh last October, dropped out of the top 10 video viewing sites in November and has not reappeared since.

ALSO READ: 6 Dream Mergers That Ought to Happen

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