Analyst Downgrades: Gilead Sciences, Inc., Wells Fargo & Co, and Rice Energy Inc

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), and Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE)

Karee Venema

Sep 27, 2016 at 10:06 AM

Analysts are weighing in on biotech Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), bank stock Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), and oil-and-gas name Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on GILD, WFC, and RICE.

Leerink downgraded GILD to "market perform" from "buy" and lowered its price target to $94 from $112, saying the company's hepatitis C sales forecasts have "turned outright bearish," and that domestic and global trends in the hepatitis C market are "in steady secular decline." Against this backdrop, shares of GILD are down 1.5% at $79.42, and within a chip-shot of taking out their Sept. 2 two-year low of $76.67. Longer term, the stock has shed 16% year-over-year, yet not one of the 20 analysts covering the shares maintain anything lower than a "hold" rating. Should GILD stock continue to struggle -- both on and off the charts -- a fresh round of bearish brokerage notes could translate into additional headwinds.

The hits just keep coming for WFC, which saw its price target cut to $50 from $63 at FBR. Additionally, shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co in the wake of its phony account scandal, while the U.S. Department of Labor said it will conduct a "top-to-bottom" review of the financial firm. Month-to-date, WFC stock has shed 11.5% -- though the shares are up 0.2% today at $44.95. Nevertheless, the security's bearish bandwagon is far from full. Short interest plunged 16.3% in the two most recent reporting periods, and now accounts for a minute 0.5% of the equity's available float. WFC could encounter a fresh wave of selling pressure, should short sellers start to climb on board the sinking stock.

RICE has plunged 6.4% to trade at $25.40, after the company said it will buy Vantage Energy in a cash-and-stock deal valued at roughly $2.7 billion. Also pressuring the shares is Goldman Sachs, which dropped coverage on RICE stock, after previously maintaining a "neutral" rating. Today's negative price action runs counter to the equity's longer-term trajectory, with RICE up 132% year-to-date. Plus, this drop appears to be stalling out near the security's rising 50-day moving average -- a trendline that contained the stock's late-July pullback. On the sentiment front, short sellers have been upping the bearish ante of late. Short interest on Rice Energy Inc jumped 16.2% in the most recent two-week reporting period, and now accounts for a healthy 6.8% of the stock's float.

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