Pearson PLC (ADR) (PSO), Syntel Inc (SYNT) & Three Other Stocks Registered Rating Downgrades and Price Target Cuts

The markets are trending strongly in the green territory mainly because people have heaved sighs of relief that interest rates remained unchanged. Besides, markets are affected by divergent economic data regarding existing home sales and initial jobless claims. Existing home sales showed higher than expected decline during the month of August, while Initial jobless claims for the previous week were lowest since April.

Meanwhile, a number of stocks, such as Pearson PLC (ADR) (NYSE:PSO), Syntel Inc (NASDAQ:SYNT), Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB), AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) and EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG) have registered downgrades or price target cuts from various analysts. Let’s take a closer look the latest bearish analyst action surrounding these stocks. 

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Pearson PLC (ADR) (NYSE:PSO) stock has received a rating cut from BNP Paribas yesterday. The analysts currently have a ‘Neutral’ rating, compared to the previous rating of ‘Outperform’. Its price target has also been slashed from $13.05 to $11.75. The stock plunged to $10.14 in the current trading session, owing to the rating cut. It is currently trading at $10.19, down 0.49%. Among the funds we track, six funds held $46 million worth of Pearson’s stock in aggregate at the end of June, having amassed 0.40% of its outstanding stock, compared to nine investors that held $54 million worth of stock a quarter earlier.

Syntel Inc (NASDAQ:SYNT) stock has been downgraded by Barrington Research yesterday. The analysts currently have a ‘Market Perform’ rating, down from Outperform. On the back of the downgrade the stock is trading slightly lower today. The number of funds from our database long Syntel amounted to 18 at the end of June, while the total value of their holdings stood at $78 million, down from $82 million held by 15 funds at the end of the previous quarter. 

Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) stock has been hit by several news. Yesterday, Moody’s cut its long-term debt rating for the company from Baa2 to Baa3. Moody’s has cited Viacom’s slow recovery as the reason behind the cut. The cut comes a day after Viacom announced slashing its quarterly dividend by half. It also issued a profit warning for the fiscal fourth quarter. A number of analysts also issued updates on the stock in the last couple of days, including Macquarie, which slashed the price target to $35 from $44 with a ‘Neutral’ rating. A total of 41 investors tracked by us held $1.23 billion worth of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB)’s stock at the end of June, having amassed 8.50% of Viacom’s outstanding stock. A quarter earlier, $1.12 billion worth of shares was held by 42 funds.

AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX) stock’s price target was cut by analysts at Nomura to $63 from $70 yesterday. However, also on Wednesday, analysts at The Street upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’. At the end of June 24 hedge funds we track held about $263 million of AMC Networks Inc (NASDAQ:AMCX)’s stock, down from 26 funds with stakes valued at $355 million at the end of March.

EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG)  saw its price target cut to $98 from $104 at Citigroup yesterday, although the analysts maintained their ‘Buy’ rating. A total of 36 investors we track held shares of EOG Resources worth $638 million in aggregate at the end of the second quarter, down from 33 funds holding $631 million worth of shares a quarter earlier.

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