Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allergan, Rackspace, Baker Hughes, Time Warner and More

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By Jon C. Ogg Published
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high on Monday, but many investors remain wary. They want upside, but they want to avoid the next earnings trap and do not want to buy at the top. Now strategists are calling it a stock picker’s market rather than a raging bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of research reports from analysts each morning of the week for new ideas for its readers. These are this Tuesday’s top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) was reiterated as Outperform with a $190 price and raised earnings estimates at Credit Suisse.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Bernstein.

BE Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAV) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) was raised to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.

magicJack VocalTec Ltd. (NASDAQ: CALL) was reiterated as Buy but the target price was cut to $22 by Canaccord Genuity.

READ MORE: Credit Suisse Identifies Big Merger Candidates in Retail

Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Bernstein, but the price target was raised to $25 from $24.

Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) was raised to Buy from Hold and given a $100 price target by BNP Paribas.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) was maintained as Outperform at Credit Suisse after earnings, but estimates were lowered and the target price was cut to $40 from $49. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and $62 price target.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was reiterated as Buy with a $73 price target at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with the firm saying that the growth opportunity remains intact ahead of next week’s earnings report.

READ MORE: Recent Analyst Stock Picks Under $10 for Big Upside

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $84 from $73 at Bernstein.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy Argus.

Ubiquiti Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: UBNT) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $50 price target (versus a $31.57 close) at Raymond James.

Weibo Corp. (NASDAQ: WB) was started as Buy at Goldman Sachs on Tuesday, after having been given an Overweight rating by Piper Jaffray on Monday.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) was started as Overweight by Morgan Stanley.

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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