These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street firms.
Actavis PLC (NYSE: ACT) was started as Buy with a $275 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was reiterated as Buy at Sterne Agee, but the firm raised its target to $18 from $15 (versus a $14.94 close) after the firm’s transformative acquisition of Firth Rixson.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and given a $17 price target (versus a $11.49 close) at FBR Capital Markets.
Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was started as Buy at Sterne Agee.
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Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) was started as Buy and given a $87 price target (versus a $74.27 close) at Sterne Agee.
Cigna Co. (NYSE: CI) was started with a Buy rating and given a $110 price target at Sterne Agee.
Colfax Corp. (NYSE: CFX) was started with a Buy rating at Goldman Sachs.
Endo International PLC (NASDAQ: ENDP) was started as Buy with an $83 price target at Canaccord Geunuity.
Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) was started with a Sell rating at Goldman Sachs.
Health Net Inc. (NYSE: HNT) was started with a Buy rating and given a $60 price target (versus a $40.39 close) at Sterne Agee. This is almost 50% implied upside and is based on it being the cheapest health plan in the industry relative to sustainable margin derived earnings per share in a post ACA world.
HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein, which is just removing one of the last capitulation negative ratings after the company raised guidance and hit a decade high.
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Manitowoc Co. (NYSE: MTW) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies, but the stock was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: MOH) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $69 price target (versus a $44.22 close) at Sterne Agee. This represents more than 50% implied upside and is based on shares not fully reflecting normalized earnings power,and the belief that investors receive post-2015 top-line growth for free.
Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX) was started with a Buy rating and given a $109 price target (versus a $88.50 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR) was started at Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP) was started with a Buy rating and given a $145 price target (versus a $123.97 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was started with a Hold rating at Canaccord Genuity.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was started as Underperform and was given an $80 price target (versus a $81.89 close) at Sterne Agee.
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VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.
WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) was started with an Underperform rating and given a $76 price target (versus a $74.68 close) at Sterne Agee.
In case you missed Thursday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades, those included shares of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Twitter, Disney, Yahoo! and many more.
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