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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bankrate, Eli Lilly, Embraer, Oracle, Southwest Air and More
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Stocks were higher on Thursday morning as investors start to move past Greece and think about a Federal Reserve that still looks somewhat dovish. The one path that keeps emerging is that investors find different reasons to buy every single market pullback. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst and brokerage research reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others are about stocks to sell or avoid.
These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $12 from $18 (versus a $13.85 close) at SunTrust. Bank of America Merrill Lynch reinstated coverage as Underperform (previously Buy) with a $11 price objective.
Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $92 from $80 at Argus. The firm talked up positive pipeline developments and noted that this new target generates a more appropriate dividend yield versus peers.
Embraer S.A. (NYSE: ERJ) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $42.00 price target (versus a $31.61 close) at Cowen. Embraer’s consensus price target is listed as $36.84, and its 52-week trading range is $29.55 to $40.52. The highest analyst price target is $43.00.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) saw shares fall 7% or so after earnings. It was maintained as Outperform with a $50 target at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that Oracle is booking its way to cloud growth while it is lowering estimates. Jefferies maintained its Hold rating and $41.00 price target. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy and $48.00 price objective, with the note that its drop is overdone.
Southwest Airlines Inc. (NYSE: LUV) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight with a price target slashed to $39 from $50 (versus a $33.84 close) at Barclays.
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Additional top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in shares of the following companies this Thursday:
Advisory Board Co. (NASDAQ: ABCO) was started as Outperform and with a $65.00 price target (versus a $52.38 close) at Oppenheimer.
Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $78.00 from $75.00 at Credit Suisse.
Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays, and the price target was raised to $200 from $167 (versus a $168.06 close).
Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $67.00 price target (versus a $66.29 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) was started as Outperform with a price target of $89.00 (versus a $67.81 close) at Oppenheimer.
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CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) was started as Outperform with a price target of $119.00 (versus a $103.82 close) at Oppenheimer.
Digital Ally Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY) was started as Buy with a price target of $24.00 (versus a $13.56 close) at H.C. Wainwright.
Energen Corp. (NYSE: EGN) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) was raised to Buy with target of $104 at Argus. The firm sees stronger earnings in all four business segments.
Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) was started as Buy with a price target of $68.00 (versus a $56.34 close) at Brean Capital.
Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) was started as Buy with a price target of $85.00 (versus a $71.23 close) at B. Riley.
Nimble Storage Inc. (NYSE: NMBL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich.
Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) was raised to Neutral from Sell but the price target was cut to $18 from $20 (versus a $18.45 close) at UBS.
Silver Spring Networks Inc. (NYSE: SSNI) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $16.00 from $12.00 (versus a $13.45 close) at Northland Securities.
Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a price target cut to $69.00 from $75.00 (versus a $62.42 close) at Credit Suisse.
Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $36.00 price target (versus a $39.78 close) at Morgan Stanley.
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In case you missed out on Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Arista Networks, Baidu, Chevron, Lexmark International, Occidental Petroleum, Salesforce.com and over a dozen more companies.
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