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Analyst ratings are quantitative and qualitative analysis of a stock by Wall Street stock rating analysts. Stock ratings consist of expected future growth, current stock valuation and macroeconomic trends.

Anne Meisner's

CROX

Top Wall Street analysts changed their outlook on these top names. For a complete view of all analyst rating changes, including upgrades and downgrades, please see our <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/">analyst ratings page</a>.



<ul>
<li>Jefferies cut the price target for Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AMAT#NASDAQ">AMAT</a>) from $215 to $210. Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. Applied Materials shares rose 1.7% to close at $209.73 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/AMAT/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock.</a></li>



<li>Baird boosted the price target for Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MTD#NYSE">MTD</a>) from $1,212 to $1,360. Baird analyst Catherine Schulte maintained a Neutral rating. Mettler-Toledo International shares jumped 17% to close at $1,510.25 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/MTD/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>HC Wainwright &amp; Co. cut Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BHVN#NYSE">BHVN</a>) price target from $63 to $59. HC Wainwright &amp; Co. analyst Douglas Tsao maintained a Buy rating. Biohaven shares fell 13.7% to close at $35.69 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/BHVN/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock.</a></li>



<li>Susquehanna slashed the price target for Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RPD#NASDAQ">RPD</a>) from $55 to $40. Susquehanna analyst Anne Meisner maintained a Neutral rating. Rapid7 shares fell 0.2% to close at $37.85 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/RPD/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>B of A Securities cut PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PENN#NASDAQ">PENN</a>) price target from $28 to $17.5. B of A Securities analyst Shaun Kelley downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. PENN Entertainment shares fell 1% to close at $16.08 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/PENN/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>Needham cut Docebo Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DCBO#NASDAQ">DCBO</a>) price target from $63 to $45. Needham analyst Ryan MacDonald maintained a Buy rating. Docebo shares fell 22.9% to close at $35.81 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/DCBO/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>HC Wainwright &amp; Co. lowered the price target for EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/EYPT#NASDAQ">EYPT</a>) from $33 to $30. HC Wainwright &amp; Co. analyst Yi Chen maintained a Buy rating. EyePoint Pharmaceuticals shares fell 4.6% to close at $12.09 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/EYPT/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>Truist Securities cut PlayAGS, Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AGS#NYSE">AGS</a>) price target from $13 to $12.5. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. PlayAGS shares fell 0.4% to close at $11.29 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/AGS/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock.</a></li>



<li>Wedbush increased Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CROX#NASDAQ">CROX</a>) price target from $156 to $170. Wedbush analyst Tom Nikic maintained an Outperform rating. Crocs shares gained 2.6% to close at $143.27 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/CROX/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>



<li>Truist Securities raised CRH plc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CRH#NYSE">CRH</a>) price target from $95 to $100. Truist Securities analyst Keith Hughes maintained a Buy rating. CRH shares gained 4.3% to close at $83.77 on Friday. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/CRH/analyst-ratings">See how other analysts view this stock</a>.</li>
</ul>



Check This Out: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/05/38786930/jpmorgan-global-payments-and-2-other-stocks-insiders-are-selling">JPMorgan, Global Payments And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling</a>

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Trading Ideas

AMAT

BHVN

DCBO

EYPT

PENN

Crocs To Rally Around 19%? Here Are 10 Top Analyst Forecasts For Monday

cyber-4610993_1280

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FTNT#NASDAQ">FTNT</a>) shares are trading higher Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/02/36978505/why-fortinet-shares-are-trading-higher-by-9-here-are-20-stocks-moving-premarket">results after the bell Tuesday. </a>



The Details: 



Several analysts have raised price targets on Fortinet following the earnings release: 



<ul>
<li>Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained Fortinet with an Outperform and raised the price target from $75 to $86.</li>



<li>Susquehanna analyst Anne Meisner maintained Fortinet with a Neutral and raised the price target from $55 to $80.</li>



<li>BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman maintained Fortinet with a Market Perform and raised the price target from $70 to $82.</li>



<li>Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz maintained Fortinet with a Neutral and raised the price target from $60 to $70.</li>
</ul>



However, HSBC analyst Stephen Bersey downgraded Fortinet from Hold to Reduce and announced a $57 price target.



Fortinet <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/24/02/36967691/cybersecurity-giant-fortinet-stocks-shoots-higher-investors-cheer-q4-performance-outlook">reported quarterly earnings</a> of 51 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 43 cents by 18.6% after the market close on Tuesday.



The company reported quarterly sales of $1.42 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.41 billion by 0.78% and representing a 10.68% increase over sales of $1.28 billion from last year.



&#8220;In the fourth quarter of 2023, Security Operations billings grew 44% year over year and SASE billings increased 19% year over year, driven by our successful sales strategy shift and the improved execution of our sales teams,&#8221; said&nbsp;Ken Xie, CEO of Fortinet.



&#8220;Our platform strategy is resonating with enterprises worldwide as we are a leader in Secure Networking and are the #1 firewall vendor for units shipped with FortiGates accounting for over half of the global deployment,&#8221; Xie continued.



Fortinet sees first-quarter adjusted earnings between 37 cents and 39 cents per share, versus the 37 cents estimate, and first-quarter revenue between $1.3 billion and $1.36 billion, versus the $1.26 billion estimate.



Fortinet anticipates full-year 2024 revenue between $5.71 billion and $5.81 billion and an adjusted EPS of $1.65 to $1.70.



Related News: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/earnings-beats/24/02/36969036/kfc-taco-bell-parent-yum-china-holdings-beats-q4-earnings-raises-dividend-announces-">KFC, Taco Bell Parent Yum China Holdings Beats Q4 Earnings, Raises Dividend, Announces $1.25B Stock Buy-Back</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How To Buy FTNT Stock: </h2>



By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Fortinet &#8211; be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.



Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/best-stock-trading-platforms">possible trading platforms here.</a> Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so. 



In the the case of Fortinet, which is trading at $69.04 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 1.45 shares of stock.



If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-short-a-stock">stock can be found at this resource.</a> Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading &#8211; either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.



FTNT Price Action:&nbsp;According to&nbsp;<a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/?gspk=YWRhbWVja2VydDUzMzY&amp;gsxid=zBMR4PKmcgBw&amp;_gl=1&#x2A;1mdgmau&#x2A;_ga&#x2A;NTExNDMyNTMyLjE3MDIwNDM0ODg.&#x2A;_ga_V7ZK73W7N0&#x2A;MTcwNzEzMzk3MC4xNzcuMS4xNzA3MzE4MjQ3LjAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Benzinga Pro</a>, Fortinet shares are trading up 3.5% at $69.80 at the time of publication.



Image: Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Movers & Shakers

FTNT

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained Fortinet with an Outperform and raised the price target from $75 to $86.
Susquehanna analyst Anne Meisner maintained Fortinet with a Neutral and raised the price target from $55 to $80.

Why Fortinet Stock Is Trading Higher Today

Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/SPLK#NASDAQ">SPLK</a>) reported a <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/splunk-shares-up-6-as-company-swings-to-q4-adjusted-profit-2018-03-01">top-and-bottom-line beat</a> in its fourth quarter results, which had multiple Wall Street analysts upbeat over the company&#39;s outlook.
<h3>
	Price Target And Rating Changes</h3>
<ul>
	<li>
		Credit Suisse&#39;s Brad Zelnick: Outperform rating, price target raised from $88 to $110.</li>
	<li>
		Susquehanna Financial Group&#39;s Anne Meisner: Positive rating, price target raised from $85 to $110.</li>
	<li>
		Baird Equity Research&#39;s Rob Oliver: Outperform rating, price target raised from $100 to $110.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
	Credit Suisse: &#39;Blowout&#39; Quarter</h3>
Splunk&#39;s &quot;blowout&quot; <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/18/03/b11291147/splunk-inc-announces-fiscal-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2018-financia">fourth quarter report</a> likely signals the machine data market opportunity is larger than expected and the company is capitalizing on the opportunity, Zelnick said in a note. Most notably, more than 50 percent of the company&#39;s sales mix is coming from Security and its role continues to increase in relevance after the Phantom Cyber acquisition.
Management&#39;s fiscal 2019 Cloud Billings guidance of $270 million implies a &quot;steady&quot; growth trajectory of 50 percent towards the longer-term 2020 target of $400 million.
Splunk&#39;s international performance was &quot;particularly strong&quot; in the quarter as it grew 77 percent from a year ago and accounts for 31 percent of total revenue, the analyst said. Europe appears to be &quot;firmly on track&quot; after experiencing execution issues at the start of the year.
Splunk&#39;s earnings report not only <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/splk">reinforces the stock</a> as a top security but also &quot;a top overall pick.&quot;
<h3>
	Susquehanna: Strong Finish To 2017</h3>
Splunk&#39;s &quot;impressive&quot; earnings report marks a &quot;strong finish&quot; to 2017, Meisner said in a note.
Importantly, the company won&#39;t be offering billings guidance in the future as it is no longer an important metric given the company&#39;s transition towards a recurring revenue model. Management deserves credit for no longer issuing the &quot;highly flawed&quot; metric and investors should focus on recurring revenue growth as a &quot;primary leading indicator&quot; moving forward.
Splunk&#39;s transition from 50 percent subscription revenue in fiscal 2018 to 75 percent in fiscal 2020 will result in shorter average invoice duration, the analyst wrote. Specifically, many customers will opt to be billed for subscription contracts on an annual basis. The shift may also impact current billings as the overall order size for a subscription contract is roughly two-thirds the size of a perpetual contract and &quot;optimize the revenue model&quot; over the longer-term.
Related Link: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/price-target/18/03/11295642/5-biggest-price-target-changes-for-friday">5 Biggest Price Target Changes For Friday</a>
<h3>
	Baird: &#39;Caution&#39; Ahead</h3>
Oliver&#39;s bullish stance on Splunk dates back to the summer and the stock has gained more than 70 percent since then, the analyst said in a note. Not much of the bullish stance has changed exiting the fourth quarter but a &quot;less aggressive&quot; stance on the stock is warranted, especially when considering a recent change to the sales force team which saw some execution issues.
The &quot;explosion&quot; of big data has naturally resulted in heavy demand for big data products Splunk offers and the company boasts an opportunity for above-average revenue growth and EBIT margin expansion over the coming years, according to Oliver.
<h3>
	Price Action</h3>
Shares of Splunk hit a new 52-week high of $101.85. The stock was trading around $99.91, up 6.7 percent on the day, at time of publication.

Analyst Color

Earnings

Long Ideas

Analyst Ratings

SPLK

Here&#39;s What Wall Street Thinks Of Splunk&#39;s Q4 Earnings

Security platform Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/PANW#NYSE">PANW</a>) has won an upgrade ahead of its fiscal second-quarter report after the&nbsp; close Feb. 26.
<h3>
	The Analyst</h3>
Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Anne Meisner <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/upgrades/18/02/11234133/benzingas-top-upgrades-downgrades-for-february-21-2018"> upgraded </a>Palo Alto from Neutral to Positive and increased the price target from $150 to $195.
<h3>
	The Thesis</h3>
The upgrade was based on the following factors, Meisner said in a Wednesday note:&nbsp;
<ul>
	<li>
		Total revenue at <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/18/01/11066334/analyst-palo-alto-now-has-better-opportunity-to-outperf"> Palo Alto </a> is poised to show more stable growth, with an increasing proportion of revenue expected to come from recurring subscriptions. The analyst said she expects total revenue growth in the high-teens range beyond 2018.</li>
	<li>
		Palo Alto is benefiting from a strong refresh cycle and increasing traction in several unattached subscriptions, such as the GlobalProtect Cloud, Traps and virtual appliances, the analyst said, citing industry feedback.</li>
	<li>
		The setup for the company appears to be reasonably accommodating for both the second quarter and the second half of 2018, Meisner said. A solid quarter, though discounted by the stock, could offer evidence of continued stabilization in execution and in turn provide support for the stock at current levels, the analyst said.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>
		Susquehanna said the relative <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/18/01/11058923/palo-alto-networks-valuation-is-close-to-full-goldman-d"> valuation </a> has become attractive after a long period of underperformance.</li>
</ul>
The new price target is based on 8x Palo Alto&#39;s newly introduced calendar 2019 recurring revenue estimate.
<h3>
	The Price Action</h3>
Palo Alto shares are up over 7 percent over the past year. The stock was up 1.77 percent at $165.80 at the time of publication.&nbsp;
Related Links:
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/18/01/11045862/palo-alto-networks-has-compelling-risk-reward-says-ever"> Palo Alto Networks Has &#39;Compelling&#39; Risk-Reward, Says Evercore ISI </a>
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/17/11/10818739/sell-side-roundup-analysts-feeling-thankful-for-palo-al"> Sell-Side Roundup: Analysts Feeling Thankful For Palo Alto Networks </a>

Upgrades

PANW

4 Reasons Why Susquehanna Upgraded Palo Alto Networks

Susquehanna Financial Group upgraded shares of Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/SPLK#NASDAQ">SPLK</a>) following the release of impressive <a href="https://www.splunk.com/en_us/newsroom/press-releases/2017/splunk-inc-announces-fiscal-second-quarter-2018-financial-results.html"> second-quarter results.</a> The firm noted that the results revealed impressive reacceleration in license revenue.
As such, the firm <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/upgrades/17/08/9976258/benzingas-top-upgrades-downgrades-for-august-25-2017"> upgraded </a> shares of Splunk from Neutral to Positive and raised its <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/price-target/17/08/9976406/7-biggest-price-target-changes-for-friday"> price target </a> from $68 to $76, as its 2018 and 2019 estimates were revised higher.
At the time of writing, the shares of Splunk were rallying 10.60 percent to $66.67.
See also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/17/07/9768699/key-takeaways-from-splunklive-2017"> Key Takeaways From SplunkLive! 2017 </a>
<h3>Rationale For Upgrade</h3>
Analyst Anne Meisner delved on the three reasons that led her to become more positive on Splunk.
<ul><li>The confidence bestowed by strong acceleration in license revenue and the significant improvement in EMEA performance in the second quarter, allaying concerns over first quarter's deceleration. The analyst feels the deceleration was execution-related and not suggestive of a permanent slowdown.</li>
<li>The limited downside the analyst sees from current levels due to the company's significant strategic value. The analyst believes valuing Splunk on cash flow is the right approach ahead of ASC 606 implementation, which will result in more upfront revenue recognition for term licenses but is likely to have an impact on cash flow.</li>
<li>The favorable longer-term fundamentals of the company. The analyst premised her positive fundamental outlook on the company's unique competitive positioning, broadening adoption of the platform and an increasing proportion of recurring revenue within the financial model.</li></ul>
Susquehanna sees strong EAA uptake and renewals resulting in expanding deal sizes and topline outperformance as catalysts for the stock.
________
Image Credit: By Splunk Inc. (Splunk Inc. USA) [Public domain], <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Splunk.jpg">via Wikimedia Commons</a>

Movers

Tech

3 Reasons To Get Positive On Splunk After An Impressive Q2

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