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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, Autodesk, BofA, Cleveland-Cliffs, Deere, Facebook, Freeport-McMoRan, Nike, Tilray and More

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Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Wednesday, and now the Dow Jones industrial average is already up over 1,000 points from its lows just last week. Investors are still recovering from major selling and volatility at the end of 2018 and start of 2019, but the prior trend of buying every dip just has not been working for some time now. Investors should be rethinking and considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while 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 on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was started with a Neutral rating at Atlantic Equities. Shares most recently closed at $232.68, with a consensus price target of $290.04. The 52-week trading range is $179.34 to $277.61.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $73 price target (versus a $62.45 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was started as Overweight and assigned a $180 price target (versus a $133.87 close) at Atlantic Equities.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $32 target price (versus a $25.51 close) at UBS. The 52-week trading range is $22.66 to $33.05, and the consensus target price is $33.87.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $1,686.92, in a 52-week range of $1606.27 to $2228.99. The consensus price target is $2224.70.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was started with an Equal Weight rating and assigned a $17 price target (versus a $16.36 close) at Stephens.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) was started as Overweight with a $40 target price (versus a $29.64 close) at Piper Jaffray.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. Shares closed at $41.19, with a consensus price target of $54.15. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $35.50 to $56.14.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was started as Market Perform at Cowen. Shares closed at $8.56, in a 52-week range of $6.30 to $13.10. The consensus price target is $12.56.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed at $60.55, with a consensus analyst target of $62.83. The 52-week trading range is $57.41 to $77.91.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $170 from $166 (versus a $156.92 close) at Argus, with the independent research firm seeing continued earnings power in the quarters ahead.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $116.97, in a 52-week range of $98.52 to $139.77. The stock has a consensus price target of $147.00.


Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated as Buy with a $206 price target (versus a $142.53 close) at Argus. Despite slower revenue growth expected, Argus noted that the positives for Facebook are Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp all having reached a critical mass of users that can continue to be monetized.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $12 price target (versus an $11.20 close) at Credit Suisse. It had a $15.76 consensus target price prior to the call.

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HSBC) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $225 from $205 at UBS.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC, but Robert W. Baird downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform.

Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight but the price target was lowered to $33 from $37 at Morgan Stanley.

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. Shares recently closed at $42.70, with a consensus price target of $59.77. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $33.55 to $59.21.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) was started as Overweight and assigned a $90 target price (versus an $83.26 close, after almost a 16% gain) at Piper Jaffray.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the target price was raised to $145 from $135 at Barclays. Shares closed at $117.84, in a 52-week range of $111.08 to $150.55. The consensus price target is $136.06.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line at Imperial Capital. Shares closed at $82.38, with a consensus price target of $105.59. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $60.44 to $97.85.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed at $32.74, in a 52-week range of $31.20 to $52.50. The consensus price target is $45.53.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was lowered to $17.50 from $20 (versus a $16.31 close) at Wedbush Securities.

RBC has posted its top energy picks for 2019.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Baidu, Chipotle Mexican Grill, First Solar, Honeywell, JPMorgan, Maxar, Nokia, Nvidia, PG&A, SunPower, Xilinx and many more.

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