Stocks were trading down on Wednesday, but likely that had nothing to do with the Ides of March. After a four-week rally, which followed about six weeks of serious selling, now the Dow and S&P 500 are fighting to break even in 2016 again. Investors have to feel caught in the up and down swings of the volatility pendulum. Do they return to the “buy every dip” mentality of 2011 to 2015, or do they start to sell into rallies again like in the first part of 2016?
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations each morning from the top brokerage firms. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid. A goal in this review is to find new ideas and hidden value for our readers.
These are this Tuesday’s top analyst initiations, upgrades and downgrades seen from major research calls.
AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. The firm sees very few catalysts in 2016 that can inspire the multiple expansion required to meet a Buy rating hurdle. Shares were indicated down 2.3% at $29.35, against a 52-week trading range of $28.29 to $36.69.
3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) may have seen shares rise 25% to $14.45 on Monday, but shares were indicated down almost 5% on Tuesday. 3D Systems was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Gabelli, and JPMorgan downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies were already at Hold/Neutral but both downgraded their price targets. With shares at $13.75 in early trading, the consensus analyst price target was almost $12, and the 52-week range is $6.00 to $32.88.
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Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $18 price target at Argus. After closing down 2% at $13.67 on Monday, its consensus analyst price target is $12.58 and its 52-week range is $5.91 to $14.80.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Outperform at Oppenheimer, but the firm seriously raised its price target up to $150 from $122 in the call. Shares closed at $128.84. They have a consensus target price of about $140.50 and a 52-week range of $92.17 to $135.47.
Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $9 price target at JPMorgan. The stock closed down 3.7% at $7.20 on Monday, with a consensus price target of $8.10 and a 52-week range of $3.40 to $18.86.
Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Shares were indicated down 7.5% at $7.86 on Tuesday morning, with a consensus analyst target of $10.72 and a 52-week range of $3.35 to $41.57.
Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Tuesday include the following:
- Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was started as Buy with a $12 price target at Imperial Capital.
- Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
- Hibbett Sport Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
- Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM) was started as Buy with a $23 target at Stifel.
- McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
- Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE: MHK) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
- PowerSecure International Inc. (NYSE: POWR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.
- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel. At $75.20, its consensus analyst price target is $73.83 and its 52-week range is $41.64 to $75.34.
In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Equinix, HCA, Johnson & Johnson, Performance Sports Group, Tesla, Yandex and many more.
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