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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amex, Caterpillar, Expedia, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Home Depot, PayPal, 3D Systems, Twitter, Whole Foods and Many More

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Stocks were indicated slightly lower on Monday after bouncing off last week’s lows on Thursday and Friday. Investors have seen every rally in 2016 matched by sellers, but there is that trend for over four years that investors found a reason to successfully buy every market dip.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports are on stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Monday’s top analyst calls.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $64 from $88 at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed down 12% at $55.06 on Friday, after a poor earnings and guidance report, and it had a consensus target of $69.29.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $51 from $67 at Goldman Sachs. Caterpillar rose 2.2% to $60.98 on Friday, but the consensus price target has come down to under $66.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo. It closed at $107.12 on Friday, has a $148.70 consensus analyst target and has a 52-week trading range of $76.34 to $140.51.


Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $210 price target (versus a $156.86 close) at Nomura Securities. The consensus analyst target is closer to $196, and the 52-week range is $151.49 to $218.77.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura Securities. After closing up 3% at $56.95 on Friday, shares were indicated down 0.8% at $56.50, and they now have a consensus analyst target of about $72.00.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $135 price target (versus a $122.76 close) at Deutsche Bank. The consensus price target is $140.82, versus a 52-week range of $92.17 to $135.47.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was Raised to Neutral from Sell at Monness Crespi Hardt. The stock closed up 1.5% at $31.69 on Friday, and it has a consensus target price of $40.94 and a post-eBay split trading range of $30.00 to $52.55.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm slashed its target price to $7.50 from $11.00. Jefferies introduced below consensus estimates for 2017. 3D Systems rose 7.7% to $7.42 on Friday but it was indicated down about 1% to $7.35 on Monday.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel. Twitter was up a mere penny on Friday to $17.84 and was indicated down 5% at $16.93 on Monday. Twitter’s consensus analyst target was listed as $32.97, and the 52-week range is $15.48 to $53.49.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, and the price target was cut to $23 from $26 (versus a $30.42 close). Whole Foods has a consensus price target of $29.67 and a 52-week range of $28.25 to $57.57.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Monday were in the following:
Alcobra Ltd. (NASDAQ: ADHD) was started as Outperform with a $16 price target (versus a $5.11 close) at Oppenheimer.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) was raised to Buy from Hold at BB&T Capital Markets.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was already rated as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm added it to the prized Conviction Buy List. Mattel closed up 1.6% at $26.24, has a consensus analyst target of $28.09 and has a 52-week range of $19.45 to $30.44.

ONEOK L.P. (NYSE: OKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was maintained as Buy with a $50 price target (versus a $34.80 close) at Jefferies. The firm sees Oracle’s entry into the cloud as unprecedented in scale and velocity for a traditional software company, and the firm sees Oracle having a multiyear product cycle.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $300 price target (versus a $239.44 close) at Deutsche Bank.


Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE: PKG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Shares closed at $16.09 but were indicated down 3% at $15.60 on Monday. Its consensus analyst price target was $22.30, and its 52-week range was $15.02 to $37.60.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

QTS Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: QTS) was started as Buy with a $52 price target (versus a $43.19 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $35 from $46 at Jefferies, which sees Seagate shares offering a compelling value with a 9% dividend yield.

Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $30 from $37 at Jefferies. The firm sees above consensus estimates for 2017.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was maintained as Buy and the price target was cut to $82 from $95 at Jefferies. The firm sees see more upside for Western Digital over Seagate, given cost savings from the HGST integration and accretion from the SanDisk acquisition.

WestRock LLC (NYSE: WRK) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $48 price objective (versus a $37.74 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) was maintained as Buy at Canaccord Genuity, but the firm lowered its target price to $32 from $38 (versus a $21.47 close).

If you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included American Express, Apple, Baidu, CONSOL Energy, FireEye, JD.com, MetLife, SunPower, Skechers and over a dozen other companies.

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