Analyst Upgrades: Whole Foods Market, Yahoo!, Tableau

Analysts issued bullish brokerage notes on WFM, YHOO, and DATA

Karee Venema

Nov 6, 2014 at 9:25 AM

Analysts are upwardly revising their ratings on organic grocer Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM), Internet issue Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), and software issue Tableau Software Inc (NYSE:DATA). Here's a quick look at today's bullish brokerage notes on WFM, YHOO, and DATA.

WFM is poised to rally 9% out of the gate, after the firm's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings beat was met with no fewer than six price-target hikes, including one from Oppenheimer, which boosted its outlook by $5 to $50, and underscored its "outperform" rating. Elsewhere, J.P. Morgan Securities upped its price target by $8 to $48, but maintained its tepid "neutral" rating. The stock has been gaining ground since hitting its mid-October low of $36.24, and is up 10.3% to trade at $39.99. Should this momentum continue, another round of bullish brokerage notes -- or a short-covering rally -- could help propel Whole Foods Market, Inc. higher. At present, roughly 57% of covering analysts have levied a "hold" or "strong sell" recommendation toward the stock, while the consensus 12-month price target of $43.08 stands at a slim 7.7% premium to Wednesday's close.

Since taking a sharp bounce off its 120-day moving average on Oct. 15, shares of YHOO have rallied 31.1% to their current perch at $47.76 -- and tagged a series of higher highs along the way. This positive price action may have been what prompted Topeka Capital to raise its price target on the stock to $57 from $47, and reiterate its "buy" rating. While this upbeat outlook echoes the general trend witnessed among the brokerage bunch, option traders have displayed skepticism toward YHOO in recent weeks. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), for example, YHOO's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.38 ranks in the 84th annual percentile. An unwinding of the hedges related to these bearish bets could add fuel to YHOO's fire. Elsewhere, Beijing-based Lenovo said this morning it has appointed Yahoo! Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang to its board of directors.

DATA is up 11% in pre-market trading, after the company said its quarterly revenue topped the $100 million mark for the first time ever. Analysts were quick to weigh in on Tableau Software Inc following its third-quarter earnings results, with no fewer than eight brokerage firms upping their price targets on the shares. Included in the bunch were Cantor, which raised its target price by $8 to $130, and Mizuho Securities, which upped its outlook to $95 from $80. Both brokerages underscored their "buy" ratings for DATA. Year-to-date, the stock is up 11% to trade at $76.50. Option traders have been rolling the dice on more gains in recent months, too, as evidenced by DATA's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 3.91, which ranks just 11 percentage points from an annual bullish peak.

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