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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Check Point, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, UnitedHealth and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 7, 2017 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:05 am

Stocks were looking for direction on Wednesday after having hit fresh all-time highs last week. The bull market may now be over eight years old, but investors have proven for more than five years that they will buy every serious stock market sell-off. Those same investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

The consensus analyst price target data are the mean of the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, June 7, 2017.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was started with a Positive rating and assigned a $132 price target (versus a $113.71 prior closing price) at Susquehanna. Check Point has a 52-week trading range of $74.34 to $114.04 and a $105.82 consensus analyst price target.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $46 target price (versus a $45.98 closing price) at BMO Capital Markets. It has a 52-week range of $39.88 to $46.06 and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was started as Buy with a $102 price target (versus a $93.21 close) at Berenberg. It had a 52-week range of $79.69 to $97.77 and a consensus target price of $90.29.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $120 price target (versus a $117.70 close) at BMO Capital Markets. The 52-week range is $98.50 to $118.12, and the consensus analyst target is $122.10.

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UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was started as Overweight with a $202 price target (versus a $180.82 close) at Morgan Stanley. UnitedHealth has a 52-week range of $132.39 to $181.06 and a consensus target price of $190.28.

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Other key analyst calls were in the following companies:

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) was started as Overweight with a $162 target price (versus a $148.00 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was reiterated as Buy and the fair value estimate was raised to $125 from $81 at Janney Capital.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) was started as Overweight with a $185 price target (versus a $165.50 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Cytosorbents Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSO) was started as Outperform and assigned a $7 target price (versus a $3.95 closing price) at Cowen.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $95 fair value estimate (versus an $85.73 closing price) at Janney Capital.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE: DPS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $105 price target (versus a $92.29 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was started as Neutral and was given a $17 price target (versus a $15.79 close) at Susquehanna.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was started as Neutral and was given a $45 price target at Susquehanna.

HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was started as Equal Weight with a $90 target price (versus an $82.48 close) at Morgan Stanley.

HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HDS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Drexel Hamilton.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) was started as Overweight with a $262 price target (versus a $233.50 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Imax Corp. (NYSE: IMAX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Benchmark.

Imperva Inc. (NASDAQ: IMPV) was started as Positive with a $60 price target (versus a $50.80 close) at Susquehanna.

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) was reiterated as Buy and with a $50 target (versus a $39.16 close) at Jefferies, noting that it is a top turnaround story.

LifePoint Health Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) was started as Equal Weight with a $65 target price (versus a $61.50 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) was started as Underweight and was given a $65 target price (versus a $68.02 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was started as Neutral and was given a $145 price target at Susquehanna.

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Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was started as Positive and assigned a $106 target price (versus a $90.87 close) at Susquehanna.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with an $8 price target (versus a $12.94 close) at Loop Capital.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was started as Neutral and was given a $68 price target at Susquehanna.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was started as Neutral and was given a $32 price target at Susquehanna.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) was reiterated as Buy with a $40 target (versus a $28.29 close) at Jefferies, with the firm noting it is a top pick in the card-issuer space.

Teladoc Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $40 from $27 (versus a $33.45 close) at Oppenheimer.

Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was started as Equal Weight with a $124 price target (versus a $113.50 close) at Morgan Stanley.

WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) was started as Equal Weight with a $183 (versus a $177.36 close) price target at Morgan Stanley.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Apple, Bluebird Bio, Dunkin’ Brands, Hartford Financial, ITT, Tyson Foods and over a dozen more.