Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Citrix, Kythera, Mylan, Netflix, Weatherford and More

April 10, 2015 by Jon C. Ogg

Wall Street/NYSEStocks were indicated higher Friday morning. Investors just keep buying stocks on weakness, a trend that is now been solid for three years in this six-year bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new trading or investment ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other reports are about stocks to sell or to avoid. These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James into the Apple Watch release. Canaccord Genuity took the other route, raising its price target to $150 from $145 based on higher market share for the iPhone 6.

Bemis Co. Inc. (NYSE: BMS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $50 from $49 (versus a $45.76 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Cabella’s Inc. (NYSE: CAB) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) is lower after its very cautious earnings warning. Credit Suisse has maintained its Outperform rating and its $77.50 target, as it continues to believe that revenue growth is positioned to improve over the course of the year. William Blair downgraded the stock to Market Perform on the news.

ALSO READ: Credit Suisse Adds 4 Top Stocks to Buy to US Focus List

Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $53 price target (versus a $55.22 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Extreme Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR) was down sharply after the third-quarter warning. Wunderlich has downgraded it to Hold from Buy and given a new $2.80 price target, versus a prior $6 price target. Needham also downgraded its rating to Hold.

Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KYTH) was reinstated as Buy with a $66 price objective (versus a $47.00 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm’s analysis is based on longer discounted cash flow estimates as the company is taking a shot at double chins.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $17 price objective (versus a $16.08 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) was reiterated Buy and the price target was raised to $80 from $66 (versus a $70.10 close) at Argus. With the Perrigo deal, Argus even said that its discounted cash flow model renders a fair value of near $85.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. The price target was raised all the way up to $525 from $409 in the call, against a $439.50 close. Netflix has a consensus target of about $452, but $600 is the street-high target.

Perrigo Co. PLC (NASDAQ: PRGO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, following a 17% move higher, and the firm thinks the Mylan deal makes sense.

ALSO READ: Are Activist Investors Actually Bad for Companies Long-Term?

Tilly’s Inc. (NYSE: TLYS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was started as Buy with a $150 price target (versus a $125.64 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was raised to Outperform with a $19 price target (versus a $13.87 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Alcoa, Marathon Oil, Marvell Technology, Starbucks, Vale and a dozen more companies.

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