Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Cisco, HP, Kors, Oracle, Shutterfly and More

March 18, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks are recovering from the recent sell-off, but investors remain anxious to make gains but to avoid the next major sell-off. 24/7 Wall St. goes over dozens of analyst research reports each morning, on the hunt for new investing ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other reports cover stocks to sell. These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, and the firm cut the price target to $23 from $25, versus a $21.51 closing price.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight by Barclays, and the price target was put at $38 (versus a $29.48 close).

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was started as Underweight at Barclays, and the price target was put at $85, versus a $98.56 close. This is the equivalent of a Sell rating, and the consensus price target is closer to $105. Barclays now matches the street’s lowest analyst price target.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was maintained as Outperform with a $40 price target (versus a $38.22 close) at Credit Suisse, ahead of its earnings report. Sterne Agee only maintained a Neutral rating.

Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform and the target price was slashed to $39 from $57 (versus a $50.43 close) at Cowen and Co. This is the equivalent of a Sell rating. The consensus price target is closer to $57, and the prior lowest analyst price target was $47.

Other Key Analyst Calls

Alphatec Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ATEC) was reinstated as Buy with a $3 price target (versus a $1.60 close) at Canaccord Genuity, based on its legal settlement no longer being a distraction and putting the 2014 thesis intact.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V. (NYSE: CBI) was started as Outperform at Cowen and Co.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was reiterated as Buy and with a $42 price target (versus a $33.18 close) at Argus.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price target was raised to $22 from $12 (versus a $22.56 close) at Credit Suisse.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at CIBC.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was started as Overweight by Barclays.

Sequential Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SQBG) was started as Overweight by Piper Jaffray.

21Vianet Group Inc. (NASDAQ: VNET) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $36 at Credit Suisse.

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