Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, BP, Hewlett-Packard, Philip Morris, UnitedHealth, AT&T and More

Investing

Published: April 13, 2015 8:45 am

Last Updated: April 13, 2015 8:47 am

Stocks were indicated higher on Monday. Investors have lined up to buy stocks on weakness for over three years now in this six-year bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning on a hunt for new trading and investment ideas for its readers. Some of the analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $0.50 price target (versus a $1.00 close) at UBS.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy with a $180 price target at Cantor Fitzgerald, with the note that the Apple Watch was off to a strong start.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was reiterated as Outperform with a $38 price target (versus a $32.77 close) at Credit Suisse. This was after management meetings.

ALSO READ: 7 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Massive Upside Targets

Aviva PLC (NYSE: AV) was started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $117 price target (versus a $77.40 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Excel Trust Inc. (NYSE: EXL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird. Cantor Fitzgerald also downgraded it to Hold from Buy.

Forum Energy Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FET) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold with a $19 target price (versus a $22.24 close) at Jefferies.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and given a $19 price target at Merrill Lynch.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was reiterated as Buy with a $43 price target at Argus, with the split and strength in core business cited. The firm even said it sees fair value of closer to $50 in a sum of the parts.

ALSO READ: 6 Oil and Gas Stocks Analysts Want You to Buy Now

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Evercore ISI.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was raised to Hold from Sell at Evercore ISI.

ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) was started as Sell with a $34 price target (versus a $36.23 close) at Goldman Sachs.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Pearson PLC (NYSE: PSO) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies.

Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Markets.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, based on the shares looking fully valued and with investor preferences into rate hikes.

Precision Drilling Corp. (NYSE: PDS) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was started as Buy with a $222 price target (versus a $191.27 close) at Goldman Sachs.

ALSO READ: Why Netflix Shares Could Rise to $750

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE: TCK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (NYSE: TC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $141 price target (versus a $119 close) at Jefferies.

In case you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Citrix Systems, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Mylan, Netflix, Weatherford International and a dozen or so more companies.

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