Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Baidu, Boeing, Coeur, Disney, Flextronics, NXP Semiconductors, WebMD and More

May 12, 2016 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks traded sharply higher Thursday morning, with news of higher jobless claims, no rate cut from the Bank of England and impeachment in Brazil being back on. Investors still have been looking for opportunities and hidden gems, and so far they are more than willing to buy the big market dips.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday morning:

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut from $225 to $203 at Jefferies. This is just a day after Morgan Stanley cut its target price to $200 from $230. Baidu’s consensus analyst price target was about $211, and the 52-week trading range is $100.00 to $217.97.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) hosted an investors Day on Tuesday and shares were last seen at $133.00. The aerospace and defense giant was maintained as Neutral but the price target was raised to $148 from $144 at Credit Suisse. The firm sees rates, price and costs all combined to drive a ramp in free cash flows. Merrill Lynch maintained an Underperform rating and $125 price objective. Boeing has a consensus price target of $145.72 and has a 52-week range of $102.10 to $150.59.


Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE: CDE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. The stock closed up 3.9% at $7.76 the prior day, with a consensus price target of $7.63 and a 52-week range of $1.62 to $8.29.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) was reinstated with a Buy and an implied 25% upside to the $15 price objective (versus a $12.04 prior close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees an improving mix, margins and tech driving the call. The consensus price target is $13.83. The 52-week range is $8.85 to $12.63.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was reiterated as Buy with a $130 price target (versus an $86.07 close) at Jefferies. The firm hosted NXP’s heads of Strategy/M&A and of investor relations, and the firm continues to highlight NXP as one of the highest free cash flow growers in 2016 to 2017 and has it as a Franchise Pick. The consensus price target is $109.13, and the 52-week range is $61.61 to $114.00.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was maintained as Outperform and the price target was cut to $128 from $130 at Credit Suisse. Argus maintained its Buy rating and a $129 price target. The shares have a consensus price target of $110.79 and a 52-week range of $86.25 to $122.08.

WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $75 price target (versus a $62.75 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. It has a $65.88 consensus analyst target and a range of $37.57 to $64.02 over the past 52-weeks. The SunTrust target matches the street-high price target from all analysts.

You can follow @Jonogg to get the daily analyst calls and market reports directly on your Twitter feed.

Many more of this Thursday’s analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations follow:

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was up almost 10% at $74.64 after earnings, and the company was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies with a price target hike from $75 to $90.

Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN) was assumed with a Buy rating and a $3.50 price target (versus a $1.57 close) at Jefferies. The firm said it believes that the off-label Vascepa promotion in mixed dyslipidemia may be starting to bear fruit.

Bemis Co. (NYSE: BMS) was started as Neutral with a $53 price target (versus a $49.61 close) at Goldman Sachs.

CPI Card Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PMTS) closed down 2.3% at $7.66 ahead of earnings, but missing forecasts took shares down to between $5 and $6 in the after-hours. The stock was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, and the price target was slashed all the way to $4 from $14 in the call. CIBC cut its rating to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform.

Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) was started as Neutral with a $60 price target (versus a $54.44 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Highwoods Properties Inc. (NYSE: HIW) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $50 price target (versus a $47.75 close) at Morgan Stanley.

IMS Health Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IMS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) was reiterated as Buy with a $22 price objective (versus an $18.66 close) at Merrill Lynch.


Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Minerva Neurosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NERV) was assumed with a Buy rating and the price target was raised to $10 from $9 (versus a $6.39 close). The firm sees Minerva as a differentiated play for insomnia and schizophrenia.

Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (NYSE: Q) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SLGN) was started as Neutral with a price target of $53 (versus a $51.61 close) at Goldman Sachs.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) was started as Neutral with a price target of $50 (versus a $46.79 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Baidu, Enterprise Products Partners, Kinder Morgan, Kinross Gold, Marketo, Office Depot, Staples, Walt Disney, Williams Companies and over a dozen more.

The top analyst upgrades and downgrades on Tuesday included Bats Global Markets, Eli Lilly, Gap, Hasbro, JD.com, Nike, Pfizer, SolarCity and many more companies.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, BB&T, Capital One, CenterPoint Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Vale and Workday.

Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Here’s a Great First Step

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.