Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Coty, Boeing, HPE, Apple, IBM & more

Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:

Coty — Coty shares surged 13.5% after the beauty-products maker announced the potential sale of the company’s professional and Brazil units. CEO Pierre Laubies said the sale would deleverage Coty’s balance sheet and “improve our ability to invest in areas with the greatest growth potential.”

Boeing — An analyst at Credit Suisse downgraded the aerospace giant to neutral from outperform as worries around the company’s 737 Max plane grow. UBS also lowered its price target on the stock to $375 per share from $470. Boeing shares fell 4.2%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise — HPE shares rose nearly 7% after an analyst at Bank of America upgraded them to buy from underperform. The analyst said HPE’s improving free cash flow and strong capital returns are some of the reasons to be bullish on the stock.

Halliburton — Shares of the oilfield services company jumped more than 5% on quarterly earnings that matched analyst expectations. Halliburton posted earnings per share of 34 cents a share, equaling a Refinitiv estimate. “As the international recovery continues and the North American market matures, our strategy is allowing us to thrive in this dynamic environment, generate strong free cash flow and produce industry-leading returns,” CEO Jeff Miller said in a statement.

Apple — Raymond James hiked its price target on Apple to $280 per share from $250, citing favorable sales data for the iPhone 11. The tech giant’s stock rose 1.8% and hit a fresh record on the price-target increase.

IBM — IBM shares dropped more than 1% after an analyst at UBS downgraded them to neutral from buy. “We believe it will be difficult for the company to achieve sustainable mid-single digit revenue growth,” the analyst said in a note.

News Corp. — The media company struck a deal with Facebook to feature headlines from publications such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. News Corp shares climbed 1.3%.

Bank of America — Shares of the banking giant rose 2.3% after the company announced it would provide preferred customers with unlimited free trades.