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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Gap, HP, Salesforce, Symantec, Disney and Many More

Stocks were indicated lower once more, due yet again to overseas weakness (Shanghai down over 4%) and weak commodities. The bull market is looking tired after running more than six years now. The one trend that has been in place is that investors have bought up every dip and looked for value. That trend is not holding at the current time, but many investors are still trying to decide where they can hide safely in the markets.

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

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was maintained as Neutral but its price target was cut to $35 from $38 at Mizuho Securities. Credit Suisse maintained its Underperform rating. FBR Capital Markets maintained a Market Perform rating but lowered its price target to $35 from $36.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was indicated down less than 1% at $27.20 after earnings. HP was maintained as Neutral but its price target was cut to $30 from $38 at Mizuho Securities. Sanford Bernstein was cautious. UBS has a Buy rating, but it cut the price target to $36 from $40.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) shares were indicated up about 3% at $70.00 or so after earnings. Salesforce was raised to Buy and the price target was raised to $82 from $79 at Pivotal Research. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and said it is the favorite large-cap growth stock.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $24 price target (versus a $21.35 close) at Morgan Stanley. Symantec closed at $21.35, and it has a consensus target price of $24.14 and a 52-week trading range of $20.33 to $27.32.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was maintained as Market Perform at Cowen, but the price target was cut to $89 from $98 in the call. This is effectively the third big downgrade this week, even if the formal rating remains the same — Disney’s consensus price target is still about $120.

ALSO READ: 6 Analyst Stocks Called to Rise 50% to 100%

Other top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from this Friday were seen as follows:

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) was started as Buy with a fair value target of $30 (versus a $26.20 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

Cimpress N.V. (NASDAQ: CMPR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $86 price target (versus a $67.65 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

The Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) was down almost 15% after missing earnings estimates. It was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair. Credit Suisse maintained its Underperform rating and lowered its price target to $22 from $30.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

ALSO READ: The Crowded Momentum Trades May Be Over: Time to Buy Quality

Luxottica Group SpA (NYSE: LUX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Macrocure Ltd. (NASDAQ: MCUR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $5 price target (versus a $2.98 close and a prior target of $15) at Credit Suisse.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was reiterated as Buy with a $60 price target (versus a $48.65 close) at Argus, on the heels of its Dot Hill announced acquisition.

Spirit Realty Capital Inc. (NYSE: SRC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $12 price target (versus a $10.73 close) at R.W. Baird.

Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $14 price target (versus an $11.95 close) at B. Riley.

Teladoc Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was started as Outperform and was given a $40 price target (versus a $26.50 close) at FBR Capital Markets.

USD Partners L.P. (NYSE: USDP) was started as Buy with a fair value estimate of $15.00 (versus a $10.84 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

ALSO READ: How Far Can Chinese Stocks Fall?

In case you missed out on Thursday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in shares of Container Store, Ericsson, Lumber Liquidators, Micron Technology, Walt Disney and over a dozen more.

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