Analyst Downgrades: AbbVie Inc, Mirati Therapeutics, Inc., and Barracuda Networks Inc

Analysts are weighing in on biopharmaceutical stocks AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) and Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRTX), and cyber security stock Barracuda Networks Inc (NYSE:CUDA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on ABBV, MRTX, and CUDA.

• ABBV is down 4.1% at $62.38, after Cowen and Company cut the stock's rating to "perform" from "outperform," and lowered its price target to $70 from $77, calling recent data on AbbVie Inc's Rova-T "underwhelming." Despite today's dip, ABBV has added over 10% in the past six months, ushered higher atop its 10-week moving average. The stock is also enjoying support from its 30-day moving average. AbbVie Inc's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 2.8 sits higher than two-thirds of all other readings from the past 12 months. In other words, option buyers have been more bullish than usual lately.


• MRTX is down 38.4% at $11.31 – its lowest since September 2013 – following an onslaught of analyst downgrades. The company presented "disappointing updates" on its small-cell lung cancer drug on Sunday, according to Leerink, which downgraded MRTX to "perform" from "outperform" and cuts its price target to $20 from $37. Meanwhile, Wedbush, Jefferies, Citigroup, Barclays, and Piper Jaffray's all made similar price-target cuts. Jefferies cut MRTX shares to "hold" from "buy." MRTX is now down 64% since the beginning of the year, and near-term option players could be kicking rocks; Mirati Therapeutics, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.1 is lower than 20% of all other readings from the past year.


• CUDA shares are trading at $15.71, down 10%, after a downgrade from J.P. Morgan Securities to "market underperform" from "market perform." CUDA has made a comeback since hitting an all-time low of $9.44 in January, but recently ran into a wall at its 200-day moving average. CUDA's SOIR of 0.5 sits lower than 96% of all other readings from the past year, suggesting an unusually strong call bias among near-term traders. CUDA's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 40% sits lower than 98% of all other readings from the past 12 months, suggesting those short-term options are attractively priced, from a historical volatility standpoint.