Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Citrix, Google, LabCorp, Raytheon and More

January 31, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

Monkey evilFriday marks the end of January, and barring any major unexpected snap-back rally, it is going to be a down month for the stock market. Now investors and analysts are figuring out how to adjust their expectations for 2014 due to the “January Effect.” 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of Wall Street analyst research reports each morning, on the hunt for stocks to buy and stocks to sell. Quite simply, we are looking for new ideas. These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was maintained as Positive at Susquehanna, but the price target was cut to $475 from $500. Credit Suisse also lowered estimates but maintained its Outperform rating and has a $449 price target. Oppenheimer said to buy the weakness on AWS & Prime pricing increases, lifting the price target to $440 from $395. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is maintaining its Buy rating but lowered its target to $435 from $445.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) was crushed on Thursday, down to a 52-week low, and many analysts downgraded the stock. Now we have Nomura Securities raising the rating to Buy into sharp weakness, based on favorable risk-reward metrics and the ultimate possibility of a buyout from private equity.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was maintained as Outperform with a $1,450 price target at Credit Suisse, although it trimmed earnings estimates slightly. Merrill Lynch maintained its Buy rating, and even raised the price target to $1,310 from $1,250, based on mobile growth expectations.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The firm’s price target is $101, based on the fact that the share price already reflects sector uncertainties.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $114 price target (versus a $91.89 close) at Sterne Agee. The firm raised earnings estimates as stable buybacks are aiding earnings per share growth. This upgrade is on the heels of RBC Capital Markets raising the rating to Outperform on Thursday.

Other Analyst Calls Worth Noting

ADT Corp. (NYSE: ADT) already saw its stock fall by 17% on Thursday after its poor earnings report. Now shares are downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was kept at $30 by Goldman Sachs.

The Chefs’ Warehouse Inc. (NASDAQ: CHEF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a new $24 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Gigamon Inc. (NYSE: GIMO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, and a $38 price target was assigned after a $28.02 close.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) was its price target raised in Europe (to 5.20 euro from 4.80 euro) even though it was maintained as Neutral at HSBC.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform by William Blair.

Linear Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LLTC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $24 from $19 at Credit Suisse.

TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, despite the company crossing the $1 billion mark in revenues.

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