FireEye Plunges Following Unconfirmed Chatter Of OTR Downgrade

Shares of FireEye Inc (NASDAQ: FEYE) plunged more than 4 percent during Thursday's morning trading session.

Investors and traders were heavily selling the stock following unconfirmed market chatter that the research firm, OTR Global, has published a negative report on the company.

$FEYE Hearing OTR cautious

— Open Outcrier (@OpenOutcrier) January 28, 2016

Other unconfirmed chatter suggested OTR Global downgraded FireEye's stock rating to Negative from Mixed.

In most instances, market chatter of a downgrade may be ignored by the investment community. However, FireEye's stock rating has been downgraded by several large Wall Street research firms in the past.

On October 5, Piper Jaffray downgraded FireEye's stock to Neutral and slashed their price target on the stock to $37 from a previous $60. The analysts cited the heightened competitive environment, specifically Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) recently introduced "Sandblast" technology that is comparable to FireEye's products and services.

On October 23, Wedbush downgraded FireEye to Neutral from Outperform with a price target slashed to $32 from a previous $41. The analysts noted their bullish stance on FireEye has changed following a series of first hand checks.