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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Cisco, Dollar General, NetApp, Pandora, P&G, Target and More
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Stocks were indicated to open handily higher on Thursday, after several consecutive days of selling pressure. Investors know this bull market is more than eight and a half years old, and they have also seen the dominating trend that they make money buying every major sell-off. Investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports and research notes cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, November 16, 2017.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was surging higher after earnings and deferred revenues were solid. Cisco closed at $34.11 ahead of earnings, and it was indicated up 6.4% at $36.30 on Thursday morning. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating on Cisco and raised its target to $40 from $37. More reiterated ratings and price target hikes have been seen as follows: Barclays to $37 from $34, Bernstein to $40 from $38, BMO Capital Markets to $36 from $32, Citigroup to $40 from $36, KeyBanc to $39 from $33 and RBC to $40 from $36. What investors need to understand now is that Cisco is at highs not seen since the tech bubble burst in 2000 and 2001.
Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $93 from $79 at Deutsche Bank. It has a 52-week trading range of $65.97 to $85.09 and a consensus analyst target price of $83.09.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was last seen trading up 13.5% at $52.00 (above its prior high of $47.20) on Thursday morning after earnings. Many analysts have raised their target prices. Barclays raised its target to $56 from $52, while BMO raised its rating to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $62 from $43. Citigroup raised its price target to $53 from $43; Deutsche Bank raised its target price to $37 from $27; Morgan Stanley raised its target price to $41 from $38; and RBC Capital Markets raised its price target to $53 from $50.
Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $7 price target (versus $a 4.93 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. Pandora has a consensus target price of $8.80, and its 52-week range is $4.44 to $14.10.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was reiterated as Buy with a $99 price target (versus an $88.23 close) at Jefferies. This is after it appears that Nelson Peltz may have won a board seat after all.
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was down almost 10% at $54.16 on Wednesday after earnings, and the recovery was just 0.9% to $54.65 on Thursday ahead of the opening bell. Target has seen multiple target price cuts: Barclays to $45 from $50, Stifel to $62 from $65 and Susquehanna to $54 from $58.
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Other key analyst calls are shown below.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, and Stifel downgraded Acorda to Hold from Buy.
Capitala Finance Corp. (NASDAQ: CPTA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $8 from $14 (versus a $7.66 close) at Jefferies, noting a lack of upside due to headwinds and few near-term catalysts.
Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Diebold Nixdorf Inc. (NYSE: DBD) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $24 target price (versus a $16.15 close) at JPMorgan.
DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was raised to Positive from Neutral and the price target was raised to $23 from $21 at Susquehanna.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was maintained as Sector Perform but the target price was cut to $85 from $90 at RBC Capital Markets.
Hawaiian Holdings (NYSE: HA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $46 target price (versus a $37.20 close) at Buckingham Research.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was maintained as Sector Perform but the target price was raised to $160 from $141 at RBC Capital Markets.
24/7 Wall St.Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE: NOMD) was started as Buy with an $18 price target at Berenberg.
PTC Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with a $15 price target (versus a $15.14 close) at JPMorgan.
Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SBH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson. Its price target was cut to $16 from $21 at BMO Capital Markets and to $18 from $24 at Cowen.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (NYSE: SMI) was down over 8.6% at $7.22 on Wednesday, and Jefferies has downgraded its rating to Hold from Buy. HSBC also cut its rating to Reduce after the drop.
Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $173 price target (versus a $154.80 close) at Robert W. Baird.
Verifone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.
Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in Advance Auto Parts, Cardinal Health, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Home Depot, Lam Research, Snap, Walmart and many more.
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