Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chesapeake, eBay, Enterprise, Gilead, Newmont, Wynn and More

Investing

Published: March 19, 2015 8:05 am

Stocks were indicated marginally lower on Thursday after a post-FOMC rally on Wednesday. The one trend that keeps holding true is that investors buy stocks after every sell-off, something that has been seen for almost three years now in this six-year bull market.

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

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) was reiterated as Buy with a target price of $98 (versus an $87.35 close) at Argus. The firm said in the analyst note that its recent relative weakness offers a buying opportunity.

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $77 from $65 (versus a $71.64 close) at R.W. Baird.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $9 price target (versus a $14.13 close) at Sterne Agee. Shares were indicated down almost 3% on the call.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the price target was cut to $49 from $55 (versus a $58.43 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Energous Corp. (NASDAQ: WATT) was started as Outperform with a $13 price target (versus a $9.24 close) at Oppenheimer.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) was started as Buy at Citigroup.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was reiterated as Buy with a price target of $130 at Argus, and the firm said its upcoming studies could provide 2015 catalysts.

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Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI.

HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: HMSY) was started as Outperform with a $27 price target (versus a $16.49 close) at R.W. Baird.

Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was started as Buy at Brean Capital.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was started as Buy at Brean Capital

Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) was started as Buy at Brean Capital.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was started as Overweight with a $54 price target (versus a $42.49 close) at J.P. Morgan.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $28 price target (versus a $22.87 close) at HSBC.

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Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: VTSS) is being acquired, and maybe not for enough. The stock was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Topeka Capital Markets, but the price target was raised to $5.50 from $5.00 (versus a $5.34 close).

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Markets.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was started as Buy at Brean Capital.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Esperion Therapeutics, MercadoLibre, Oracle, Pandora Media and many more.

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