Stocks were staging a second major bounce on Thursday after a big gain on Wednesday. Investors just keep proving over and over that they are buyers of stocks on weakness or which offer value and are overlooked by the market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other analyst reports cover sell or stocks to avoid.

Due to the raw number of analyst calls, most price target data was not included. These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

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There were many more analyst calls this Thursday morning as well. Below is another dozen and a half key analyst calls and the year-end price targets for the S&P 500 from this Thursday:

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

The Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was started as Buy at Citigroup.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Dick’s Sporting Good Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

SAP A.G. (NYSE: SAP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, but it was also reportedly raised to Buy at Evercore.

Vitamin Shoppe Inc. (NYSE: VSI) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

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WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was started as Buy at Citigroup.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of ADP, American Express, Cigna, First Solar, Garmin, LINN Energy, Synchrony and a dozen or so more.

Here are the most recent S&P 500 targets for 2015 from the major brokerage firms:

• Barclays, 2,100
• BMO Capital Markets, 2,250
• Citigroup, 2,200
• Credit Suisse, 2,200
• Deutsche Bank. 2,150
• Goldman Sachs, 2,100
• J.P. Morgan, 2,250
• Merrill Lynch, 2,200
• Morgan Stanley, 2,275
• Oppenheimer, 2,311
• RBC, 2,325
• UBS, 2,225
• Wells Fargo, 2,222

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