Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Brightcove, Exxon, GM, Mylan, Petrobras, Twitter and Many More

Investing

Published: July 25, 2014 8:50 am

Stocks were looking for direction ahead of Friday’s key durable goods report. Investors still want upside from stocks, even if they feel the bull market of five and a half years has gotten a bit long in the tooth. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some feature stocks to sell or to avoid.

These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street firms.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares were down 10% at $322.35 in early Friday trading after earnings and guidance yet again indicate a propensity to earn as little money as possible. Keep in mind that each 1% of this drop represents $1.65 billion in market cap. Amazon was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $350 price target at B. Riley. Canaccord Genuity cut its price target to $340 from $365.

BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: BBEP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV) beat on earnings but guided lower. It was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley, to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets and to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest Securities.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target price to $106 from $103.

ALSO READ: Meet the $100 Facebook Analyst Call

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $105 price target (versus a $104.28 close) at Barclays.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $22 price target (versus a $16.19 close) at B. Riley.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP) was maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the company was removed from the firm’s prized Conviction Buy List. Canaccord Genuity maintained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $280 from $300.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) already fell more than 5% on Thursday after earnings. The stock was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was started with a Market Perform rating at Raymond James in coverage issued late on Thursday.

VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.

ALSO READ: 5 Analyst Stocks to Buy Yielding 10% or More

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Boeing, Facebook, Markit, Qualcomm, Verizon, Unisys and a dozen others.

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