Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on AAPL, AET, and WATT
Analysts are weighing in on tech giant
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), healthcare company
Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET), and semiconductor stock
Energous Corp (NASDAQ:WATT). Here's a quick look at today's bearish brokerage notes on AAPL, AET, and WATT.
Apple Cut to "Equal Weight" At Barclays
AAPL is down 0.5% at $119.43, after the tech stock received a downgrade to "equal weight" from "overweight" by Barclays, along with a price-target cut to $117 from $119, citing a sector-wide smartphone sales slump. Though AAPL has added 3.5% year-to-date, the shares are still down by more than 10% from their 2015 all-time high. Prior to today, 26 of 32 analysts rated AAPL a "buy" or better. Another round of bearish analyst attention -- particularly in the event of an earnings disappointment next week -- could serve as further headwinds for Apple Inc. shares.
Leerink Downgrades Aetna to "Market Perform"
AET is 1.5% lower $117.39, continuing its drop from yesterday, after its $34 billion takeover of Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) was blocked by a federal judge amid competition concerns. AET received a downgrade to "market perform" from "outperform" by Leerink, though the firm also raised its price target to $135. Meanwhile, Evercore ISI cut its price target to $135 from $145. AET is down more 14% since notching its all-time high of $136.50 in early December, and today look poised to breach their 200-day moving average for the first time since the election. In the option pits, a number of bulls may be kicking rocks after yesterday's news, with Aetna Inc's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) showing 2.36 calls bought to open for every put over the last two weeks -- a reading that is higher than 85% of all others taken in the last year.
Energous Downgraded, Targeted By Short Seller
WATT is down 10.5% at $15.86, after an anonymous report by a self-labeled short seller said Energous Corp's wireless charging technology is unlikely to be used by AAPL in the iPhone 8. In addition, the semiconductor stock was chopped to "perform" from "outperform" by Oppenheimer. WATT still sits up more than 236% year-over-year, but could breach its 10-week moving average for the first time since November. Energous short sellers are likely ready to reap the rewards of today's drop, with short interest up 9.5% over the last reporting period, accounting for 31.6% of WATT's float. It would take more than a week to cover these bearish bets, at WATT's average daily volume.
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