Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX), Intel Corporation (INTC), and Transocean LTD (RIG)
Analysts weighed in on pharmaceutical firm
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), chipmaker
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and oil-and-gas stock
Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on VRX, INTC, and RIG.
- VRX announced that Mike Pearson will step down as CEO once a replacement has been found, and that activist investor Bill Ackman has been appointed to its board of directors. This follows a recent string of fundamental follies that sent shares of VRX tumbling to a fresh five-year low of $25.99 earlier -- after being halted in electronic trading -- and its 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) well into oversold territory. This may be why Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc has since moved 12.9% higher to $30.47, despite Mizuho Securities cutting its rating to "underperform" from "neutral" and its price target to $18 from $70. Barclays also chimed in, slashing its price target by $101 to $34. However, there's still plenty of room for more analysts to downgrade the embattled stock, should it resume its downtrend, as 41% still maintain a "strong buy" rating.
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Bernstein lowered its outlook on INTC to "underpeform" from "market perform" and its price target to $26 from $29, citing skepticism over the company's first-quarter results. Additionally, Deutsche Bank cut its price target to $37 from $38. Against this backdrop, shares of INTC are off 2% at $32.03 -- the biggest decliner on the Dow -- and put volume is once again running at an accelerated clip. Widening the scope, over the past 10 sessions, Intel Corporation has racked up a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 3.36 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) -- in the 92nd percentile of its annual range.
- RIG saw its price target cut to $9 from $12 at Cowen and Company, sending the shares down 2% to $10.56. Longer term, the stock has shed more than half of its value since hitting an annual high of $21.90 last May -- and notched a new record low of $7.67 in late February. Nevertheless, short-term speculators are more call-heavy now than at any other point in the past year. In fact, Transocean LTD's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.10 sits below all other comparable readings taken in the last 12 months.
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