Notable Upgrades and Downgrades for the Week of September 6th

Markets have been volatile, with investors on edge as the continued virus threat undermines the economic recovery and boosts supply-shock inflation, even as central banks reaffirm an accommodative stance.  U.S. equities have been whipsawed amid mixed economic data and a lack of clarity on the Federal Reserve’s timeline for tapering its emergency stimulus.

“Investors have been assessing rising Covid cases, slowing growth, elevated levels of inflation, and uncertainty over when the Fed could start tapering bond purchases,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. “The data has been mixed, and the messages from the Fed have been mixed, leaving little clarity for the markets, which traditionally struggle with uncertainty.”

When uncertainty looms, knowledge is power.  Keeping a finger on the pulse of the analyst community can give an investor a leg up when it comes to managing their portfolio.  

Stock analysts can provide valuable insight into the sentiment around a certain stock or sector and shed some light on what is possible or likely for a stock.  Stirring in the analyst community can sometimes be early signs of stock movement, which is why our team reviews dozens of analyst research reports each and every day with the goal of finding new investment ideas for our readers. 

Of the hundreds of reports, we reference weekly, some stand out among the others for various reasons.  Our team has sifted through this week’s reports and whittled it down to the most pertinent moves.   

There were 25% more downgrades than upgrades for the holiday-shortened week.  Read on for the details on some of the most impactful actions brokerage firms took over the past week.    

Tuesday, September 7th

• Keybanc upgraded Spotify (SPOT) from Sector Perform to Outperform with a price target of $340 which represents a 38% upside. 

• Needham upgraded Five9 (FIVN) from Hold to Buy with a price target of $200 which represents a 14.5% upside.

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) from Overweight to Equal Weight with a price target of $187 which represents an increase of 11.4%.

• BMO Capital downgraded Columbia Property Trust (CXP) from Outperform to Market Perform, lowering their price target from $19.50 to $19.30.

Wednesday, September 8th

• Berenberg upgraded Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI) from Hold to Buy with a price target of $98 which represents an increase of 38.5%.

• Truist Securities and Wells Fargo both downgraded Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) from Buy to Hold and lowered their price target from $23 to $21 which represents an increase of 11%.

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Thursday, September 9th

• Stifel upgraded AppLovin (APP) from Hold to Buy, increasing their price target from $65 to $90 which represents an increase of 29.5%.

• Cohen and Co. upgraded Macy’s (M) from Market Perform to Outperform, increasing their price target from $23 to $27 which represents an increase of 29%.

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Cisco Systems (CSCO) from Overweight to Equal Weight with a price target of $59 which represents a 1.41% upside.

Friday, September 10th

• Goldman Sachs upgraded Allegion (ALLE) from Neutral to Buy, increasing their price target from $158 to $174 which represents a 20% increase.

• Sumo Logic (SUMO) received downgrades from BTIG and Piper Sandler.  Piper Sandler, who downgraded SUMO from Overweight to Neutral, lowered their price target from $24 to $20. 

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