Analyst Downgrades: 3D Systems Corporation, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, and Merck & Co., Inc.

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY)​​, and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jul 18, 2016 at 9:36 AM
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Analysts are weighing in on 3-D printing firm 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), tech stock Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY)​​, and drugmaker Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on DDD, CY, and MRK.

  • Piper Jaffray downgraded DDD to "underweight" from "neutral," and cut its price target to $10.25 from $12. While the shares are down 7% out of the gate at $13.60, they remain nearly 57% higher year-to-date. Plus, today's pullback appears to have found a foothold atop the $13.50 mark -- a level that previously served as resistance for 3D Systems Corporation. Should the shares resume their lonter-term uptrend, a round of short-covering could translate into additional tailwinds. Nearly 27% of DDD's float is sold short, representing more than seven sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand.

  • After getting an M&A-related boost last week, CY is down 3.3% this morning at $10.99, following a downgrade to "equal weight" from "overweight" at Morgan Stanley. Coming into today, analysts have been mostly upbeat on the stock, with seven of 11 saying it's at least a "buy," and none giving it a "sell" rating. Cypress Semiconductor Corporation is now down 4.5% year-over-year, and short sellers have been piling on. Specifically, short interest grew by 12.3% in the most recent reporting period. 

  • MRK was hit with a downgrade to "market perform" from "outperform" at BMO, and the shares are now down 1.1% at $58.98. The shares had been hot coming into today, though, adding roughly 8% since bouncing from their 80-day moving average in late June, and closed last week at $59.63. What's more, Merck & Co., Inc. sits just a hair shy of its 12-month high of $60.07, but put buying has been more popular than normal at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). For instance, the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio across these exchanges comes in at 1.04 -- higher than 81% of the past year's readings.  
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