Investing
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, BP, Hewlett-Packard, Philip Morris, UnitedHealth, AT&T and More
April 13, 2015 8:45 am
Last Updated: April 13, 2015 8:47 am
Stocks were indicated higher on Monday. Investors have lined up to buy stocks on weakness for over three years now in this six-year bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning on a hunt for new trading and investment ideas for its readers. Some of the analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.Source: Jon Ogg
These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $0.50 price target (versus a $1.00 close) at UBS.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy with a $180 price target at Cantor Fitzgerald, with the note that the Apple Watch was off to a strong start.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was reiterated as Outperform with a $38 price target (versus a $32.77 close) at Credit Suisse. This was after management meetings.
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Aviva PLC (NYSE: AV) was started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $117 price target (versus a $77.40 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Excel Trust Inc. (NYSE: EXL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird. Cantor Fitzgerald also downgraded it to Hold from Buy.
Forum Energy Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FET) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold with a $19 target price (versus a $22.24 close) at Jefferies.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and given a $19 price target at Merrill Lynch.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was reiterated as Buy with a $43 price target at Argus, with the split and strength in core business cited. The firm even said it sees fair value of closer to $50 in a sum of the parts.
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Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Evercore ISI.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was raised to Hold from Sell at Evercore ISI.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) was started as Sell with a $34 price target (versus a $36.23 close) at Goldman Sachs.
M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Pearson PLC (NYSE: PSO) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies.
Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Markets.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, based on the shares looking fully valued and with investor preferences into rate hikes.
Precision Drilling Corp. (NYSE: PDS) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.
Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.
Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was started as Buy with a $222 price target (versus a $191.27 close) at Goldman Sachs.
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St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE: TCK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (NYSE: TC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $141 price target (versus a $119 close) at Jefferies.
In case you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Citrix Systems, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Mylan, Netflix, Weatherford International and a dozen or so more companies.
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