Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BP, Caterpillar, Ciena, CME, Campbell Soup and Many More

Investing

Published: September 4, 2015 8:50 am

Last Updated: September 4, 2015 8:52 am

Stocks were indicated lower on Friday after the Dow was relatively flat on Thursday. On Thursday, this was thought of as being only a slight recovery from the dips that we saw earlier this week, but it appears that it may only be going down on Friday. Traders may be expecting increased volatility going into this holiday weekend. The Dow and S&P 500 are both down more than 10% from their highs.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to an Underperform rating by Merrill Lynch. Shares closed Thursday at $32.41, in a 52-week trading range of $30.53 to $48.11. The stock has a consensus price target of $41.21.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to a Neutral rating with a $77 price target (versus a $74.45 close) at Baird. The consensus analyst price target is $82. The 52-week trading range is $70.23 to $109.49.

Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN) was downgraded by Credit Suisse to a Hold rating, after closing at $22.98. The consensus price target is $27.96. The 52-week trading range is $13.77 to $26.50.

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CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was maintained with a Neutral rating and a $97 price target (upside of 3.4%) at JPMorgan, versus a prior close of $93.81. The consensus analyst price target is $101.08 and the 52-week range is $75.30 to $100.87.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) upgraded to a Neutral rating by Citigroup. Shares closed Thursday at $48.53, in a 52-week trading range of $41.15 to $50.80. The consensus price target is $46.82.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was upgraded to a Buy at Merrill Lynch. The consensus analyst price target is $82.96. The 52-week trading range is $53.70 to $84.22.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT) was maintained at a Hold rating with an $89 price target by Jefferies, implying upside of about 27% from the most recent close of $69.98. The consensus price target is $86.69, and the 52-week range is $55.54 to $79.50.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was maintained as an Outperform rating with a $13 price target by Credit Suisse, implying upside of nearly 30% from Thursday’s close of $10.06. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $14.07 and a 52-week trading range of $7.21 to $23.69.

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Boeing, eBay, Five Below, Halliburton, Janus Capital, Kroger, Lululemon Athletica, Seadrill, Schlumberger and Twitter.

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