Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AngloGold, Twitter, Biogen, Celgene, HomeAway, VMware and More

May 29, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks are trying to hold on to new highs yet again. The difference at this high is that investors keep getting told that this is a stock picker’s market rather than a raging bull market. Each morning of the week, 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports for new ideas for its readers. Some of the analyst research pieces cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid. These are this Thursday’s top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) was raised to Overweight from Neutral by HSBC.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $375 from $370 at J.P. Morgan.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.

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Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $60 from $65 by Sterne Agee.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $27 price target by RBC Capital Markets.

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight by Morgan Stanley.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. (NYSE: HMY) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at HSBC.

HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight by J.P. Morgan.

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Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan, after the news that Malcolm Glazer has died at the age of 85.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan, but the price target was cut to $104 from $114 (versus a $82.10 close).

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) beat earnings and settled litigation with Juniper Networks. It was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer, and it was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse also raised their price targets.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

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