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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Altera, Dyax, HP, Kinder Morgan, Kors, Staples, Twitter and More
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Stocks were indicated lower on Wednesday, an April Fool’s trick for the first day of the quarter. Still, the bull market is six years old as the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its first negative quarter in two years. The one constant that has been in place for three years now is that investors have bought up every single sell-off.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new trading and investment ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades. There are many calls, which may be the peak before the coming Easter holiday weekend.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was maintained as Outperform at Oppenheimer, but the price target was cut to $105 from $112 (versus a $83.24 close).
Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. The firm believes a substantial buyout premium around the Intel buyout rumors has been put on the company now.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was added to the Focus List at Citigroup, but the firm already had a Buy rating. No details have been seen yet in the call.
ALSO READ: 8 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Huge Upside Calls
Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ: DYAX) saw its shares urge on positive drug study news and an FDA Fast Track designation. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and raised its target to $26 from $14. RBC Capital Markets maintained its Outperform rating and raised its target to $31 from $18. Dyax shares are indicated up 45% at $24.30 to decade highs.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $41 from $37 (versus a $31.16 close) at Jefferies.
Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was started as Buy with a $47 price target (versus a $42.15 close) at Stifel.
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $20 price target (versus a $16.29 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR)was started as Buy with a $65 price target (versus a $50.08 close) at Jefferies.
Wednesday’s Other Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform, but the price target was trimmed to $112 from $114 (versus a $94.15 close), at Raymond James.
Chubb Corp. (NYSE: CB) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was raised to Hold from Sell by Evercore ISI.
Fifth Street Finance Corp. (NASDAQ: FSC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, and the price target was cut to $7 from $10 (versus a $7.30 close).
ALSO READ: Wells Fargo Cautious on Oil, With 3 Top Picks
ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $10.50 from $12.50 (versus a $12.11 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE: STON) was started as Buy and was given a $33 per unit fair value (versus a $28.94 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
Tuesday Morning Corp. (NASDAQ: TUES) was started as Buy with a $20 price target at Sterne Agee.
Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was downgraded to Underperform and the price target was cut to $98 from $136 at Sterne Agee.
United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
XL Group PLC (NYSE: XL) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
ALSO READ: Analyst Sees Banks as Last Cheap Stocks
Zulily Inc. (NASDAQ: ZU) was started as Outperform with a $17 price target (versus a $12.99 close) at Oppenheimer.
In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Brocade Communications, IAC/InterActiveCorp, Nabors Industries, Priceline, Teva Pharmaceutical and Yamana Gold and a dozen more.
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