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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Best Buy, Google, IBM, Marathon, Nike, WisdomTree and Many More
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Stocks bounced big on Tuesday only to see shares slide into a very negative close. Now we have stocks gapping up again on Wednesday after China’s intervention with liquidity. There is still an embedded trend that is almost four years old for investors to buy the dips and to look for value. The reason each time is different, but they find a reason to buy stocks on weakness, and the Dow and S&P 500 are down more than 10% from their highs.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some of the analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $585 price target (versus a $466.37 close) at Evercore ISI. This is after Oppenheimer also named it as a bull market leader to buy after the sell-off. Amazon has a consensus analyst price target of $466.37 and a 52-week trading range of $284.00 to $580.57.
Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $40 price target (versus a $32.95 close after a 12.5% post-earnings rally) at Raymond James. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating and $45 price target. Best Buy has a consensus price target of $41.00 and a 52-week range of $28.32 to $42.00.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was raised to the prized Conviction Buy List from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Its price target also was raised to $800 from $660 in the call. Google was listed as one of the five most disappointing leadership moves on Tuesday. It has a consensus price target of close to $766 and a 52-week range of $490.91 to $713.33.
ALSO READ: Oppenheimer’s 7 Bull Market Leaders to Buy Into Sell-Off
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $175 (versus a $140.96 close) at Argus. The firm now expects IBM’s earnings quality to improve as the company benefits from the disposition of commodity-like assets.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $61 price target (versus a $43.77 close after a 4.5% drop) at JPMorgan. Marathon has a consensus analyst price target of $67.50 and a 52-week range of $37.32 to $60.38.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was raised to Positive from Neutral, with a $122 price target that was maintained (versus a $103.53 close), at Susquehanna. Nike has a consensus analyst price target of $119.63 and a 52-week range of $78.27 to $117.72.
WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was downgraded to Sell from Buy with a $15 price target (versus an $18.57 close after a 2.9% drop) at Citigroup. This is against a 52-week range of $9.57 to $26.23. WisdomTree has a consensus analyst price target of $27.00.
ALSO READ: 3 Top Internet Stocks to Buy Into the Pullback
Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street this Wednesday were seen in the following:
Aerohive Networks Inc. (NYSE: HIVE) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy and the price target was cut to $7 from $9 (versus a $6.85 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Sanford Bernstein.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Market.
Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was raised to Positive from Neutral but the price target of $69 was maintained (versus a $58.20 close) at Susquehanna.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $27 price target (versus a $20.40 close) at Raymond James.
Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE: COO) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a price target of $200 (versus a $156.98 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
ALSO READ: 6 Big Banks Now Under Book Value
DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $37 from $46 (versus a $27.35 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $23 price target (versus an $18.23 close) at Sanford Bernstein.
Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $36 price target (versus $26.13 close) at UBS.
TerraForm Global Inc. (NASDAQ: GLBL) was started as Neutral with a $10.50 price objective (versus a $8.04 close) at Merrill Lynch.
Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ: MERC) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform, but the price target was cut to $18 from $20 (versus a $9.99 close), at Raymond James.
Nimble Storage Inc. (NYSE: NMBL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $33 price target maintained (versus a $23.83 close) at Wunderlich.
Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $51 price target (versus a $46.92 close) at Sterne Agee.
Receptos Inc. (NASDAQ: RCPT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $232 (versus a $231.95 close) at Wedbush Securities.
ALSO READ: Jefferies Has 3 Growth Stocks to Buy After the Sell-Off
Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $32 (versus a $26.52 close) at Sanford Bernstein. This was also just featured as one of the six big banks trading under book value.
In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Bank of America, Canadian Solar, Garmin, Regions Financial, Euronav and over a dozen more.
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