Analyst Downgrades: Yelp Inc, EMC Corporation, and Metlife Inc

Analysts are weighing in on consumer review site Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), tech stock EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), and insurance issue Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on YELP, EMC, and MET.

• YELP is off 3% pre-market, after seeing its rating cut to "underperform" from "market perform" at Wells Fargo. This may come as a surprise, considering the social media stock has more than doubled since its February lows to settle yesterday at $30.38 -- earning a number of positive analyst notes along the way. Elsewhere on the sentiment front, short interest represents 16.6% of Yelp Inc's float, or more than a week's worth of pent-up buying power, at the stock's average daily volume.


• Ahead of EMC's earnings report next Monday night, Macquarie lowered its assessment of the stock to "neutral" from "outperform." This is par for the course, considering roughly three-fifths of analysts rate the shares a "hold" -- with the rest sporting "buy" or better opinions. Technically speaking, EMC Corporation has been stair-stepping its way higher in 2016, and closed Tueday at $27.61 -- just a hair's breadth south of its 40-day moving average.


• ​MET is getting rocked with negative attention, set to drop 1.1% at the open, with Deutsche Bank lowering its rating to "hold" from "buy," and trimming its price target to $44 from $47. In a similar vein, KBW cut its target price to $51 from $54. That's not to say Metlife Inc deserves any better -- the stock, which settled at $40.76 yesterday, has surrendered 15.5% year-to-date. In fact, a further capitulation among bullish brokerage firms could exacerbate losses. After all, despite MET's woeful track record, 10 of 12 analysts recommend buying the stock, with not a single "sell" rating on the books.

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