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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Control4, Cree, NetApp, Twitter, Yahoo!, Yelp and More

Stocks are trying to recover from their recent selling pressure, but investors remain wary. These same investors are caught between a rock and a hard place — they want upside, but they want to avoid the next selling wave too. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many analyst research reports each morning of the week for new ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst calls are about stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or to avoid. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Control4 Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $24 price target by Raymond James. This was also one of our nine stocks that could double in 2014.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was raised to Buy from Hold at Needham & Co.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) was raised to Neutral from Underperform as the downside thesis has played out, with a $55 price target, by Sterne Agee.

Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) was maintained as Hold at Sterne Agee, but the firm raised its price target to $4.75 from $4.00 based on TMS de-risking. This was one of our own nine stocks that could double in 2014.

Lpath Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTN) was started as Buy and given a $17 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

ALSO READ: Jefferies Stock picks that could jump from an earnings surprise

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Nimble Storage Inc. (NYSE: NMBL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP) was started as Buy along with a $42 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was started as Buy along with a $350 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) was raised to Buy with a $25 price target at Sterne Agee.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $43 price target at Sterne Agee.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

United Natural Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas.

ALSO READ: Eight key indicators to watch for a market crash

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform by Wells Fargo.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

A10 Networks Inc. (NYSE: ATEN), a software-based application networking solutions provider, saw its analyst quiet period end. The shares closed at $14.47 on Tuesday, against a post-IPO range of $12.92 to $16.50. The analyst calls were as follows: Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and Outperform at Oppenheimer, Pacific Crest and RBC Capital Markets.

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