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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CenturyLink, IBM, Isis, J.C. Penney, Wayfair and More

Stocks were slightly higher on Monday morning after a Chinese interest rate cut over the weekend, but stocks hit all-time highs last week. The trend that has prevailed without fail for more than two years now is that investors want to buy stocks whenever they can. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week with a goal of finding new investment and trading ideas for its readers.

Some analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Crane Co. (NYSE: CR) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was raised to Neutral from Underperform by D.A. Davidson.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities.

ALSO READ: Despite All-Time market Highs, 13 Serious Dividend Cuts

Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Brean Capital.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was maintained as Neutral with lower earnings estimates at Sterne Agee.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) was started as Overweight at Barclays.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) was started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

SBA Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: SBAC) was downgraded to Outperform from Top Pick at RBC Capital Markets.

Safe Bulkers Inc. (NYSE: SB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

ALSO READ: 5 Small Cap Analyst Stocks With Huge Upside Calls

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