Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Arch Coal, Coca-Cola, Duke Energy, Microsoft, Oracle, Visa and More

September 16, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were soft on Tuesday after mixed fanfare on Monday. Investors are still looking for opportunities now that some stocks have pulled back. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some research reports feature stocks to buy, but others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations covered by 24/7 Wall St.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral and the price target was cut to $3 from $4 at Nomura.

Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Topeka Capital Markets.

BE Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAV) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was started as Market Perform with a $43 price target at Cowen.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) was started as Buy with a $5 price target (versus a $2.87 close) at Deutsche Bank in a late-Monday call.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. (NYSE: HPY) was started as Buy with a $58 price target at Sterne Agee.

READ ALSO: 6 Stocks Being Sold to Pay for Alibaba Stakes

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was started as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was started as Buy and an $85 price target at Sterne Agee, and it was started as Overweight and $91 target at Piper Jaffray.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was started as Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. Argus maintained its Hold rating.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was started with a Sector Perform rating at RBC Capital Markets. Here is the 24/7 Wall St. earnings preview and review ahead of Thursday’s earnings report.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral and the price target was cut to $11 from $13 at Nomura.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) was started as Outperform with a $106 price target at Cowen.

Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NYSE: SALT) was started with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank.

Tableau Software Inc. (NYSE: DATA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was started as Buy with a $265 price target at Sterne Agee. It was also started as Overweight with a $265 price target at Piper Jaffray.

READ ALSO: Evaluating SodaStream as Value Versus Growth

If you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of AMC, ADP, Barrick Gold, Cree, Rackspace, Costco, Walmart and more.

Sponsored: Find a Qualified Financial Advisor

Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.