Analyst Upgrades: Walt Disney Co, Netflix, Inc., and Noble Energy, Inc.

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on blue-chip media stock Walt Disney Co (DIS), streaming stock Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), and oil company Noble Energy, Inc. (NBL)

Jan 17, 2017 at 9:57 AM

Analysts are weighing in on blue-chip media stock Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), streaming stock Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and oil-and-gas company Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL). Here's a quick look at today's bullish brokerage notes on DIS, NFLX, and NBL.

DIS is up 0.6% at $108.70, after an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" by Goldman Sachs, which also raised its price target to $134 from $109 -- in all-time high territory -- citing new park attractions, tax reform benefits, and a 2018 film schedule that "might be its best ever." DIS shares have enjoyed the support of their 10- and 20-day moving averages over the past few months, as the blue-chip media stock has added more than 20% from its October lows. Elsewhere, option bulls have been hitting the stock harder than usual, with Walt Disney Co's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) showing 2.27 calls bought to open for every put during the last two weeks. This ratio registers in the 81st percentile of its annual range, pointing to a healthier-than-usual appetite for long DIS calls over puts.
NFLX is 0.2% higher at $134 -- and just off a new all-time high of $135.40 -- after a round of bullish analyst attention. Mizuho raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral" and issued a price-target hike to $152 from $112, while Goldman Sachs also raised its price target to $155. Set to report earnings tomorrow night, NFLX is up by more than 67% since its February lows, helped by a post-earnings bull gap in October. Near-term option players are more put-skewed than usual, though, with Netflix, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.12 sitting at an annual high.
NBL is trading 4.2% higher at $38.97, after announcing it has entered into a deal to purchase Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEI) for $2.7 billion. NBL has since received positive attention from several analysts, including an upgrade to "neutral" from "sell" at Seaport Global Securities, which also lifted its price target to $36 from $33. In addition, Jefferies and Wunderlich raised their price targets to $46 and $52, respectively. NBL is up more than 70% since hitting a seven-year low last January, and is on pace to take out both its 10- and 20-day trendlines for the first time since early December. With 2.96 puts bought to open for every call at the ISE/CBOE/PHLX over the last 10 weeks, however -- in the 80th percentile of its annual range -- it looks like Noble Energy, Inc. option players have been more bearish than usual.

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