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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