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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: ADS, Blackstone, Cognizant, HCA, Paychex, Salesforce, Wynn, Yext, Zoetis and More
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Stocks were indicated to have a higher open on Tuesday after a Turkey-related sell-off on Monday. Earnings season is now about 85% over, and it has been quite strong with over 70% of the companies exceeding expectations. The market volatility in 2018 has created less rewarding trades by buying the dips, which had been so reliable in prior years. Many investors also are trying to decide how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections and with international trade concerns.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Tuesday, August 14, 2018:
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. The stock closed at $227.36, has a 52-week range of $192.02 to $278.33 and it has a consensus target price of $269.05.
Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was raised to $42 from $40 at Morgan Stanley.
Carlyle Group L.P. (NASDAQ: CG) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was raised to $31 from $30 at Morgan Stanley.
Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and the price target was lowered to $126 from $135 (versus a $134.98 prior close) at Deutsche Bank.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Eros International PLC (NASDAQ: EROS) was started as Buy and assigned a $16 price target (versus a $13.14 close) at Citigroup.
Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE: DY) was down 24% at $68.08 on Monday. Canaccord Genuity maintained the stock as Buy but cut its target price to $90 from $125. Wells Fargo maintained its Outperform rating but lowered the price target to $85 from $110.
Emerson Electric Co. was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $83 from $81 (versus a $73.45 close) at Argus.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $150 price target at Barclays.
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HudBay Minerals Inc. (NYSE: HBM) was started as Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was started as Neutral and assigned a $72 price target at Credit Suisse.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was started as Neutral and assigned a $31 price target (versus a $29.03 close) at Credit Suisse.
Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE: NLSN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.
Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was raised to Hold from Sell at Argus.
Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Replimune Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REPL) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $31 price target at BMO Capital Markets. JPMorgan started it as Outperform and assigned a $26 price target. Shares closed up 1.1% at $17.10 on Monday.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $178 from $153 (versus a $144.45 close) at Morgan Stanley.
Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ: SGMS) was started as Underperform and assigned a $31 price target (versus a $31.75 close) at Credit Suisse.
24/7 Wall St.Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. The stock closed down 1.8% at $47.40 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $16.68 to $49.00 and with a consensus target price of $47.56.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was started as Neutral and assigned a $155 price target at Credit Suisse. Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy.
Yext Inc. (NYSE: YEXT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $27 price target (versus a $22.57 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $103 from $90 at Argus.
Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Akamai, Dollar Tree, Hasbro, Intel, Mylan, Netflix, Papa John’s and many more.
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