Stocks were indicated higher again on Wednesday, once more proving that investors want in the market either on weakness or when they find new value opportunities. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was added to the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs. The price target is $163.00 (versus a $113.69 prior close). Apple’s consensus analyst price target is currently $148.88 and its 52-week trading range is $92.00 to $134.54.
Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $165 price target (versus a $79.61 close, after a 6.9% gain) at Goldman Sachs. Bluebird shares were indicated up 5% to $83.70 early Wednesday, and it has a 52-week range of $39.02 to $197.30.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. Shares closed at $79.96 Tuesday, and the consensus analyst price target of $83.70 is within a 52-week range of $66.55 to $97.20.
Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm removed it from the prized Conviction Buy list. Goldman Sachs also lowered Kinder Morgan’s price target to $29 from $39 (versus a $23.36 close).
Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $2.50 from $3.00 (versus a $1.75 close) at Raymond James. The consensus price target is $2.58, and the 52-week range is $1.35 to $3.71.
Lending Club Corp. (NYSE: LC) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $16 price target (versus a $12.81 close) at Sterne Agee CRT. Lending Club has a consensus target price closer to $20 and a 52-week range of $10.28 to $29.29.
Perrigo Co. PLC (NYSE: PRGO) was started as Neutral with a $165 price target (versus a $153.50 close) at JPMorgan. Perrigo has a consensus price target of roughly $199 and a 52-week range of $140.40 to $215.73.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Wednesday were in the following:
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was started as Perform with a $119 price target (versus a $107.32 close) at Oppenheimer.
Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE) was started as Buy with a $75 price objective (versus a $64.59 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $54 price target (versus a $40.64 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Care.com Inc. (NYSE: CRCM) was started as Hold with a $6.00 price target (versus a $6.02 close) at Topeka Capital Markets.
Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $42 from $33 in the call (versus a $35.13 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $4.00 from $10.00 at Deutsche Bank.
Faro Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO) was raised to Buy from Hold and the prior $30 price target was raised to $32 (versus a $27.84 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $27.00 price target (versus a $19.53 close) at Credit Suisse.
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Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) was started as Buy with a $25.00 price target (versus a $15.64 close) at Citigroup.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) was started as Market Perform at Raymond James.
Kite Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: KITE) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $111 price target (versus a $79.89 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $50.00 price target (versus a $42.71 close) at Raymond James.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) was started with a Neutral rating and was assigned a $210 price target (versus a $222.39 close) at Credit Suisse.
Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SBH) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $35 price target (versus a $24.98 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Springleaf Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEAF) was reiterated as Buy at Janney Capital Markets, and the fair value estimate was raised to $71 from $55 (versus a $49.40 close). This was raised so much due to the closing of the OneMain acquisition.
Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NASDAQ: SALT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was slashed to $1 from $3 (versus a $1.15 close) at Deutsche Bank.
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In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Antero Resources, Athenahealth, Capstone Turbine, Clovis Oncology, Genworth Financial, Merck, Nuance Communications, Salesforce.com and close to a dozen more.
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