Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CIT, Intel, Nike, J.C.Penney and More

Investing

Published: September 30, 2013 8:45 am

As a government shutdown and debt ceiling debate rage on as new (or repetitive) market risks, investors have to decide which stocks to buy and which to sell or avoid. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of research reports from Wall Street analysts each morning to look for the new research ideas. Some are stocks to buy and some are stocks to sell. Here are Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) is getting destroyed on poor hep-C test results, and shares are down about 50%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Underperform from Buy after the news.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) was listed in Barron’s as having yet another 20% upside this year and as a possible media takeover target.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $58 from $52 (versus a $48.47 close) at Janney Capital.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target is now $68 (versus a $59.93 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was maintained as Neutral but the estimates were lowered due to weak back to school and lack of a holiday cheer, according to Sterna Agee. The price target is $20, versus a $22.98 close.

International Paper Company (NYSE: IP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

J. C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Maxim Group.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $42 price target (versus a $34.90 close) at Argus.

Marketo Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTO) was reinstated as Outperform with a $38 price target (versus a $31.49 close) at Credit Suisse.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started as Neutral at UBS.

RealPage Inc. (NYSE: RP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $23.40 close) at Credit Suisse.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) was raised to Buy from Sell with a $71 price target (versus a $65.88 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Shire PLC (NASDAQ: SHPG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at J.P. Morgan.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $55 price target (versus $a 46.54 close) at Pacific Crest.

Last week we featureed top stocks to buy trading under $10 as a Wall Street analyst montage. We now have more of those under $10 stock picks.

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