Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Eli Lilly and Co (LLY), Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX), and Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
Analysts are weighing in on drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), and energy giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on LLY, BSX, and XOM.
- LLY is slightly higher ahead of the open, after Leerink raised its price target on the stock to $93 from $90 -- right above LLY's 14-year high of $92.85 from mid-September. The shares settled at $80.70 on Wednesday, up 17% on the year, but it appears Eli Lilly and Co option traders are positioning themselves for a downside move. The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands at 1.86, outranking 94% of all readings from the past year. If some of these bearish traders start to hit the exits, it could spark an upward move for LLY.
- BSX fell 4.2% on Wednesday to close at $18.01, after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed limited coverage reimbursement for one of the company's heart devices. Regardless, Citigroup started coverage on the stock with a "buy" opinion this morning, and gave it a $23 price target -- territory not charted in nearly a decade. Boston Scientific Corporation is an outperformer, though, picking up almost 36% in 2015. As a result, option traders have targeted calls over puts. BSX's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) stands at 0.51, ranking in the 34th annual percentile. In other words, short-term speculators are more call-skewed than normal.
- Wednesday's session was tough on oil stocks, and today may not be better amid the commodity's extended slide, as XOM is pointed 1.3% lower in electronic trading, despite a $7 price-target hike to $86 at HSBC. At $81.62, the shares are back below their 20-day moving average, a level that applied pressure earlier in 2015. In the meantime, option traders have changed their previously bullish tune. Exxon Mobil Corporation's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX is now 2.93 -- higher than 85% of all similar readings from the past 12 months.
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