Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on NFLX, FB, and APC
Analysts are weighing in on streaming service
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), social media stock
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and oil-and-gas company
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on NFLX, FB, and APC.
- NFLX is 2% higher at $131.79, following an upgrade to "hold" from "sell" at Deutsche Bank, which also hiked its price target to $110 from $92 -- still 16.5% below the stock's current perch. NFLX, which is due to report fourth-quarter earnings next Wednesday night, is up 19% from its November lows -- helped by a recent bounce off its 20-day moving average -- and the stock has managed to tack on almost 24% year-over-year. In the option pits, near-term option players have been exceptionally put-skewed, with Netflix, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.12 sitting higher than 99% of all other readings taken in the last 12 months.
- FB is up 1.6% to trade at $128.61, after an upgrade to "strong buy" from "outperform" at Raymond James, which cited Facebook Inc's "continued momentum" in the fourth quarter as one reason for its increased optimism. FB recently broke out above the $124-$125 area that had contained the shares since an early November bear gap, and took back its 100-day moving average in the process. Meanwhile, the firm recently made waves on rumors that it's considering a bid for NFLX. Near-term option players have been more put-biased than usual in FB's option pits, with its SOIR of 0.72 sitting just 13 percentage points from an annual peak.
- APC is trading fractionally lower at $71.40, after the company announced it will be selling its Eagleford Shale assets for about $2.3 billion. Following the news, RBC raised its price target to $82 from $81, while Simmons lifted its target price to $77 from $66. On the charts, APC has been on a steady journey higher since touching an eight-year low in January 2016, adding over 150%. Bullish betting has ramped up in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation's option pits over the last two weeks, with 2.54 calls bought to open for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This top-heavy call/put volume ratio ranks in the upper quartile of its annual range.
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