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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BHP Billiton, CarMax, Cisco, Deere, 3M, Target, United Continental, Wells Fargo and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: January 10, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:38 am

Stocks were indicated lower on Wednesday morning due to interest rate pressure in the United States and abroad, but the trend that has thrived for over half of the almost nine-year-old bull market is that investors have done well buying each dip. After all, stocks are right at all-time highs, and the start of 2018 was the best start to a year since the 1980s. Investors are deciding how to position their portfolios for 2018 and beyond. Those same investors are also looking for new ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of the daily analyst reports and research reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, January 10, 2018.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AAWW) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen, and the firm raised its target price to $72 from $62 (versus a $57.30 prior close).

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was maintained as Market Perform but the price target was raised to $52 from $45 at Cowen.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) was downgraded to Perform From Outperform by Oppenheimer

Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH) was raised to Buy from Hold at Williams Capital.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was reiterated as Outperform and with an $81 price target (versus a $69.80 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $40 price target (versus a $33.91 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was started as Overweight and assigned a $44 price target (versus a $39.69 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Cloudera Inc. (NYSE: CLDR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $24 price target (versus a $17.18 close) at Citigroup.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, and the firm raised its target to $190 from $155 in the call.

Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DFRG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with an $18 price target (versus a $15.10 close) at Stephens.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ: EPZM) was started as Overweight and assigned a $20 price target (versus a $12.50 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Ferrellgas Partners L.P. (NYSE: FGP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was started as Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was maintained as Neutral with a $49 price target (versus a $52.27 close) at Wedbush.

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Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $105 price target (versus a $113.78 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Imax Corp. (NYSE: IMAX) was downgraded to Neutral From Overweight by Piper Jaffray.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was started as Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $67 price target (versus a $50.45 close) at Barclays.

Lloyds TSB Group PLC (NYSE: LYG) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was maintained as Hold at Deutsche Bank, but the firm raised its price target to $240 from $180. Shares closed up 0.6% at $241.28 on Tuesday.

Medical Properties Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Methanex Corp. (NASDAQ: MEOH) was maintained as Outperform and the price target was raised to $69 from $65 at Cowen.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities.

Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (NYSE: RBS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was raised to Positive from Neutral and the price target was raised to $84 from $54 at Susquehanna.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $90 price target (versus a $68.48 close) at Citigroup. Cowen also raised its target on United Continental to $74 from $73.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $16.50 from $9.50 at Instinet.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at Atlantic Equities. Wells Fargo closed up 0.35% at $62.26 on Tuesday and was indicated up 0.6% more at $62.65 on Wednesday.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $145 price target (versus a $109.70 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley raised its exposure to European equities and lowered its exposure to U.S. equities due to a view of limited upside after already coming close to its annual targets.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AK Steel, Carnival, FedEx, PayPal, Sunoco, Teva Pharmaceutical, Under Armour, Wells Fargo and many more.