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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Achillion, Monster, Gilead, JCPenney, JDSU, Green Mountain and More

Stocks were firm yet again on Friday morning ahead of the PPI wholesale inflation report. Investors have been trying to decide where to put their money after the recent stock market volatility and move in bonds. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, while others reports cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades:

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) was started as Outperform with a $12 price target at FBR Capital Markets. Earlier this week Piper Jaffray raised it to Overweight and doubled its price target to $10. Achillion shares rose 6.5% to $8.44 on Thursday, and shares were up another 16% at $9.80 after positive news on its Hep-C vaccine trials Friday in premarket trading.

Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) was maintained as Buy with a $45 price target on the heels of the Monster Beverage deal.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway had a bit of a surprise in its ongoing holdings of DaVita.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was started as Outperform at FBR Capital Markets. RBC Capital Markets maintained its Outperform rating. The news is on the heels of a legal victory over Roche in the Hep-C race.

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Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE: HMY) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC.

J.C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP) was maintained as Underperform with a $7 price target at Credit Suisse. Sterne Agee maintained its Neutral rating.

JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, based on uncertainty in its end markets.

Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) was reiterated as Buy with a $140 target price at Argus based on on strong earnings prospects.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) was maintained as Outperform with an $82 price target at Credit Suisse on the heels of the Coca-Cola investment.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) was raised to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Barclays. The price target is $89, but the closing price was $82.11.

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Steven Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $40 price target (versus $32.32 close) at Sterne Agee.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. Sterne Agee reiterated its Buy rating and $36 price target.

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades & downgrades, they included companies like Cisco, Exxon, Ford, GM, Tesla, Twitter, NetApp, InterMune and more than a dozen more.

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