Analyst Upgrades: Illumina, Synaptics, and GrubHub

Analysts issued bullish notes on ILMN, SYNA, and GRUB

Oct 21, 2014 at 9:04 AM

Analysts are upwardly revising their ratings today on molecular diagnostics firm Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), tech issue Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA), and mobile carryout platform GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB). Here's a quick look at today's bullish brokerage notes on ILMN, SYNA, and GRUB.

After the company's strong earnings report last night, ILMN scored an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at Janney, along with a price-target hike to $192 from $165. Six other firms also upped their price targets on Illumina, Inc., with JMP Securities lifting its forecast all the way to $245 -- roughly 49% above the stock's close at $164.47 on Monday. Most analysts are already upbeat on ILMN, in light of the equity's year-to-date rally of 48.7%. Among the 18 brokerage firms tracking the shares, 11 have handed out "strong buy" ratings, and there's not a single "sell" to be found. As traders respond to the firm's positive earnings news, ILMN has bounced 10% ahead of the bell.

Sterne Agee started coverage of SYNA with a "buy" rating ahead of Thursday night's fiscal first-quarter earnings release. Synaptics, Incorporated has now garnered an almost unanimous vote of confidence from Wall Street, with 89% of analysts deeming the stock a "buy" or better. SYNA has advanced 36.9% year-over-year, with a recent pullback contained by support in the $65 area. However, the stock remains heavily targeted by short sellers, as evidenced by its short-to-float ratio of 12.9%. After closing Monday at $74.94, SYNA has edged fractionally higher in pre-market trading.

BMO boosted its price target on GRUB to $44 from $40, implying expected upside of more than 19% from Monday's close at $36.86. GrubHub Inc made its public trading debut back in April, and the stock's current all-time high of $45.80 was reached in mid-August. In recent sessions, the stock's progress has been capped by resistance at its overhead 40-day moving average, now located at $37.37. Despite the recently sluggish price action, BMO's freshly reiterated "outperform" rating is hardly unique for GRUB. Among the eight analysts following the stock, seven call it a "buy" or better.

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