Analyst Downgrades: 3D Systems Corporation, Sanderson Farms, Inc., and Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Josh Selway

Mar 15, 2016 at 9:30 AM

Analysts are weighing in on 3-D printing concern 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), poultry processing company Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFM), and biotech stock Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on DDD, SAFM, and GILD.

DDD is set to give back some of its post-earnings gains from yesterday, with the shares off 5% in pre-market action. This potential drop comes after a downgrade to "underweight" from "neutral" at J.P. Morgan Securities -- though Jefferies and Deutsche Bank both bumped their price targets up to $13. The shares closed Monday at $14.45, which brought their 2016 lead to 66.3%. Option traders are apparently unimpressed, though. 3D Systems Corporation's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 1.80 is just 3 percentage points from an annual high.

SAFM has outpaced the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 28 percentage points during the past three months to trade at $90.84, touching an annual high of $93.98 earlier this month. But none of that stopped Goldman Sachs from downgrading the stock's rating to "sell" this morning, sending the shares nearly 3% lower ahead of the open. Short sellers share this skepticism, as over 28% of Sanderson Farms, Inc.'s float is sold short. It would take these bears almost nine sessions to buy back their bets, at SAFM's average daily volumes.

GILD is down 0.6% ahead of the open, after Jefferies lowered its price target by $3 to $97. The shares settled at $90.46 on Monday, bringing their year-to-date deficit to 10.6%. More losses could be in store for Gilead Sciences, Inc., too, if bullish speculators throw in the towel. Specifically, 2.58 calls have been bought to open for every put during the past 10 weeks at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX -- a ratio that outstrips four-fifths of all others from the last year. Elsewhere, the brokerage crowd remains upbeat toward GILD.

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