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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, FireEye, Lululemon, Nu Skin, Rio Tinto, Tesla, BHP Billiton and Many More

Stocks traded sharply higher Wednesday morning. Yet again, investors are buying value and looking for bargains, now that the stock market pulled back so much before this last rally. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of research reports from analysts each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was maintained as Neutral at Credit Suisse, but the firm lowered its price target to $65 from $75, based on lower estimates and on fuzzy subscriber math.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Its shares were indicated up 4.5% at $35.80, after closing at $34.25, and it has a consensus analyst target price of $46.91 and a 52-week trading range of $30.15 to $60.33.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was maintained as Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch after recent weakness, but the firm trimmed its price objective to $50.00 from $60.00 (versus a $31.18 prior close). FireEye has a consensus price target of about $53.00 and a 52-week range of $24.81 to $55.33.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Buy with a $69 price target (versus a $51.74 close) at Citigroup. Lululemon shares have a consensus price target of $64.27 and a 52-week range of $37.86 to $70.00.

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: NUS) was maintained as Hold and the price target was cut to $45 from $48 at Canaccord Genuity, noting that yet again China does not deliver. Stifel downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold with a $35.00 price target. Nu Skin was indicated down 16% at $39.15, versus a 52-week range of $38.00 to $62.87.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. It was last indicated up 9% at $38.75, after closing at $35.42, and it has a consensus price target of $48.04 and a 52-week range of $31.97 to $51.62.

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $282.00 price target (versus a $241.46 close) at Robert W. Baird. Tesla has a consensus price target of $299.56 and a 52-week range of $181.40 to $286.65.

ALSO READ: Why Merrill Lynch Now Favors Large Cap Leaders in Biotech

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations this Wednesday were as follows:

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $52 price target (versus a $39.89 close) at Barclays.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $102.00 price objective (versus an $89.95 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX) was maintained as Hold, but earnings estimates for 2015 and 2016 were cut, and the price target was maintained at $35.00 (versus a $36.46 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $92.00 price objective (versus a $68.65 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was started as Neutral at Citigroup.

Harmon International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR) was started as Underperform with a $90.00 price target (versus a $104.25 close) at Jefferies.

HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) was started as Neutral at Citigroup.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) was raised to Buy from Neutral but the price target was cut to $93 from $102 (versus a $75.09 close) at Nomura Securities.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was started as Sell with a $38 price target (versus a $43.37 close) at Citigroup.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) was started as Buy at Citigroup, and the price target was started as $59.00 (versus a $47.69 close).

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) was started as Buy with a price target of $98.00 (versus a $79.86 close) at Citigroup.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was started as Buy with an $88.00 price target (versus a $70.77 close) at Citigroup.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch Gets Nervous: Buy Only High-Quality Stocks Now

TrustCo Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: TRST) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform with a price target of $6.00 (versus a $5.85 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was started as Buy at Citigroup with a price target of $40.00 (versus a $30.58 close).

In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included CBS, Cisco, Comerica, Twitter, FedEx, Illumina, Linn, NuVasive and over a dozen more.

 

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