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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: EMC, Facebook, 58.com, HD Supply, Netflix, TripAdvisor, Wal-Mart and Many More

Stocks were getting a solid bounce on Thursday, proving yet again that investors want to buy stocks on weakness or when opportunity arises. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid. These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $30.00 price target (versus a $27.11 prior close) at Deutsche Bank. EMC still has a consensus valuation target right at $30.00 or so, but that Dell buyout value has diminished due to the VMware second-class citizen treatment. EMC has a 52-week trading range of $22.66 to $30.92.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, and the price target is set at $115 (versus a $94.07 close). Facebook has a consensus price target of almost $112.00 and a 52-week range of $$70.32 to $99.24.

58.com Inc. (NYSE: WUBA) was started with a Sell rating and was assigned a $48.00 price target (versus a $50.63 close) at CLSA. The 58.com shares had a consensus price target of $74.79 prior to this call, and its 52-week range is $35.50 to $83.71.

HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HDS) was started as Buy and was assigned a $38.00 price target (versus a $29.73 close) at Goldman Sachs. The stock has a consensus price target of $37.67 and a 52-week range of $23.18 to $36.81.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was reiterated as Buy at Canaccord Genuity after earnings, and the firm raised its price target to $125.00 from $120.00. Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating and it raised its price target to $130 from $125 in its call. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and $140.00 price target. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating and lowered its price target to $124 from $130.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was reiterated as Outperform at Oppenheimer after the Priceline deal, but it only maintained its $97 price target (versus a $83.72 close). Janney Capital Markets said that Wednesday’s gain was an overreaction to the news and that it should still only be rated as Neutral.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was the pariah of the market on Wednesday, jettisoning trust and creating major confusion over just how much higher wages will hurt companies. Stephens downgraded Wal-Mart to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $58.00 price target (versus a $60.03 close). Credit Suisse downgraded Wal-Mart to Neutral from Outperform and slashed its price target to $62 from $85.

ALSO READ: 8 Fresh Analyst Stock Picks With 50% to 100% Upside

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Thursday morning were seen in the following:

Allete Inc. (NYSE: ALE) was started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Dexcom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $90.00 (versus a $70.65 close) at Sterne Agee CRT.

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird with a $59.00 price target (versus a $52.75 close).

Horizon Global Corp. (NYSE: HZN) was started as Buy and was assigned a $12.00 price target (versus an $8.80 close) at Roth Capital.

Imprivata Inc. (NYSE: IMPR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $19 from $24 (versus a $17.31 close) at JPMorgan. William Blair also downgraded Imprivata to Market Perform from Outperform.

ALSO READ: JPMorgan Says Continue to Buy Chip Stocks

Manitowoc Co. Inc. (NYSE: MTW) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R. W. Baird.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR) was started as Equal Weight with a $65.00 price target (versus a $55.48 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Proto Labs Inc. (NYSE: PRLB) was raised to Buy from Hold and its $75.00 price target was maintained as Canaccord Genuity.

Rexnord Corp. (NYSE: RXN) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE: ST) was started as Overweight and was assigned a $62.00 price target (versus a $46.05 close) at JPMorgan.

Superior Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: SPN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen.

Unitil Corp. (NYSE: UTL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the fair value estimate was set at $37.00 (down from $39.00 and versus a $38.20 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

ALSO READ: 5 Dividend-Paying Blue Chip Stocks Trading Under 15 Times Forward Earnings

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Analog Devices, Intel, Oracle, Royal Dutch Shell, Twitter, Under Armour, Whiting Petroleum and more.

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