Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Ally, Apple, ADP, Brocade, Level 3, Tyco and More

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

By Jon C. Ogg Published Feb 5, 2015 at 8:35 AM EST

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Stocks surged higher Thursday morning, a day ahead of the unemployment and payrolls report. Investors keep proving over and over that they will buy stocks on pullbacks and that they will seek value and overlooked stocks every time they can. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new investment and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $140 from $130 (versus a $119.56 close) at Credit Suisse.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

BankUnited Inc. (NYSE: BKU) was started as Overweight with a $33 price target (versus a $29.44 close) at Barclays.

ALSO READ: The Outlook on Apple’s All-Time High

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) was raised to Buy from Sell at Citigroup.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

IMAX Corp. (NYSE: IMAX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) rose after earnings, and Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $63 from $55.

Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was started as Outperform at Baird.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) has seen three downgrades: to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, to Neutral from Buy at UBS and to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

ALSO READ: Why Apple Is Selling Billions in Debt Again

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT) was started as Neutral by SunTrust.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) was defended at Argus with a Buy rating reiterated and with a $48 price target. Shares closed at $41.41 on Wednesday.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in Coupons.com, Dean Foods, Hilton, Isis Pharmaceutical, National Oilwell Varco, Stratasys and a dozen or so others.