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

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Yelp Inc (YELP), EMC Corporation (EMC), and Metlife Inc (MET)

Jul 13, 2016 at 9:29 AM

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.