Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chipotle, Duke, EMC, SanDisk, Starbucks, McDonald's and More

Stocks were staging a small recovery early on Wednesday after a sharp sell-off on Tuesday, which effectively wiped out the total gains for 2015. If there is one theme that has remained static for well over two years now, it is that investors have been selective and opportunistic, and they have bought major equities after each and every pullback.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid. These are Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was started as Underperform with a $175 price target (versus a $186.03 close) at Credit Suisse.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was started as Outperform with a $785 price target (versus a $654.74 close) at Credit Suisse.

Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CORT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was lifted to $9 from $2.50 (versus a $3.37 close) at Piper Jaffray.

ALSO READ: Warren Buffett’s 8 Best Dividend Stocks

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $85 from $99 at Argus.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was started as Outperform with a $56 price target (versus a $46.70 close) at Credit Suisse.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price valuation range was cut to $26 to $28 from $31 to $34 (versus a $26.95 close) at Wells Fargo.

Inogen Inc. (NASDAQ: INGN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was started as Neutral with a $99 price target (versus a $96.29 close) at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch’s Top 10 Reasons to Stay Long Stocks

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) was started as Outperform with a $190 price target at Credit Suisse.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB) was downgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was added to the Conviction Buy List and the price target was raised to $106 from $100 (versus a $80.17 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was started as Neutral with a $97 price target (versus a $92.18 close) at Credit Suisse. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $100 from $94.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was started as Underperform with a $9 price target (versus a $10.75 close) at Credit Suisse.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) was started as Underperform with a $74 price target at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: 6 Oil Stocks Analysts Want You to Buy

In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, AECOM, Electronic Arts, Hewlett-Packard, Myriad Genetics, Urban Outfitters and a dozen or so more.

It’s Your Money, Your Future—Own It (sponsor)

Retirement can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be.

Imagine having an expert in your corner to help you with your financial goals. Someone to help you determine if you’re ahead, behind, or right on track. With SmartAsset, that’s not just a dream—it’s reality. This free tool connects you with pre-screened financial advisors who work in your best interests. It’s quick, it’s easy, so take the leap today and start planning smarter!

Don’t waste another minute; get started right here and help your retirement dreams become a retirement reality.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.