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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apache, Apple, Cypress, ITT, Microsoft and More

Stocks were indicated higher Tuesday morning. Despite the market being close to new highs, investors have proven over and over that they will buy value stocks or stocks that are discounted when they can. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports are about stocks to buy, and some of them cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $135 from $120 at Canaccord Genuity. The firm’s surveys indicate continued strong demand for 64GB iPhone 6/6 Plus SKUs.

Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but the price target was raised to $103 from $100 (versus a $103.16 close).

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) was trading up about 15% around $12.00 after announcing that it would acquire Spansion for about $4 billion in stock. Topeka Capital Markets has raised its rating on Cypress to Buy from Hold and raised the target to $13.00 from $10.50. Sterne Agee said that its back of the envelope synergies point to significant upside of $18 or more.

ALSO READ: 5 Crucial Biotech Dates and Events for December

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV) was downgraded to Sell with a $69 price target (versus $75.03 close) from an already cautious Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $47 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital Markets.

Marketo Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTO) was started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was started as Overweight with a $74 price target at J.P. Morgan.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, but the price target was raised to $109 from $103 (versus a $104.44 close).

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was started as Neutral with a $90 price target at J.P. Morgan.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan, just a day after Baird downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform.

For 2015, Credit Suisse has said that it remains overweight in equities, raising its mid-2015 target to 2,250 for the S&P 500 but seeing a modest fall in markets in the second half of 2015.

ALSO READ: 5 Big Dow Dividend Hikes Expected Before 2014 Ends

In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Alcoa, American Airlines, Bank of Montreal, DreamWorks Animation, Deere, Groupon, Monster Beverage, Seadrill, Yahoo and a dozen or so more.

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