These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street firms.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), better known as DuPont, was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and its target price was cut to $67 from $74 (versus a $64.95 close) at J.P. Morgan.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was reiterated as Buy with a $31 price target at Argus after a weak earnings reaction. The analyst team even said that the relative price weakness offers buying opportunity.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel with a whopping $600 price target (versus a $392.16 close). The robotic surgical device player was also raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, with a $500 price target there.
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Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) beat earnings but lowered guidance. The networking company was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and the price target was cut to $28 from $34 (versus a $24.82 close and $23.50 in early indications).
King Digital Entertainment PLC (NYSE: KING) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, in part due to recent chart ranking data for Farm Heroes and Pet Rescue.
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is being given negative calls after earnings failed to show anything impressive. The fast-food king was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna, and it was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird. Sterne Agee downgraded it to Neutral from Buy.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was up over 2% in early trading after its earnings report. The tech giant was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch; and it was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $54 price target at Pacific Crest. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and raised the target price to $50 from $45. Credit Suisse raised its target to $50 from $47.50.
United Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UTX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Its price range was cut to $110 to $115 from $128 to $132 (versus a$110.86 close). Sterne Agee raised estimates and reiterated its Buy rating and $128 price target.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) had disappointing numbers and has been cut at multiple firms, and shares were down 12% at $42.30 in early Wednesday trading indications. It was downgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, to Market Perform at William Blair and to Neutral at Merrill Lynch. Credit Suisse cut its target to $45 from $50.
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Other calls of note on Wednesday were as follows:
- Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities.
- Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) was started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
- Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
- Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
- Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
- Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) was started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, Allergan, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Five Below, Netflix, QIWI, Sanmina and a dozen others.
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