Stocks traded handily higher on Tuesday and economic data out of China actually was helping out futures again on Wednesday morning. Despite the major selling pressure that was seen in the first six weeks of 2016, it seems that investors have decided to revert back to the trend of the prior four years of buying pullbacks.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday morning:

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was down 5.4% on Tuesday and was indicated down over 6% at $13.30 early Wednesday after an FDA panel voted against its lung cancer drug. Mizuho was at Neutral but lowered its price target from $21 to $15. JPMorgan downgraded Clovis from Overweight to Neutral and the target was cut to $15 from $42, and Credit Suisse downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform with a target cut to $154 from $32. Janney maintained a Buy rating but slashed its fair value estimate to $24 from $50. Clovis had a consensus analyst price target of $26.88 (and heading far lower) and has a 52-week trading range of $12.25 to $116.75.

Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo based on valuation reaching its valuation range of $33 to $34. CSC has a consensus price target of $33.29 and a 52-week range of $24.27 to $34.49.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo, and the valuation range is $11 to $12 (versus a $13.12 prior close). The move is after the equity dilution and asset sales announced. The consensus price target is $14.00, and the 52-week range is $6.52 to $31.53.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) was started as Neutral with an $83 price objective (versus a $78.72 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It has a consensus price target of $83.70 and a 52-week range of $64.51 to $107.31.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) was downgraded from Sector Weight to Underperform at Pacific Crest in what is effectively a tactical short call. The firm sees Sprint’s promotions and churn to have been worse than expected and that the 2016 estimates might not be viewed at face value. Sprint closed at $3.49 and has a 52-week range of $2.18 to $5.39.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $13 price target (versus a $15.48 close) at Canaccord Genuity. The consensus price target is $13.62. The 52-week range is $8.06 to $15.91.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow Research. The stock closed at $43.97, within a 52-week range of $38.64 to $102.07. The consensus target price is $69.96.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen on Wednesday in the following:
Brinks Co. (NYSE: BCO) was started as Buy with a price target of $38 (versus a $33.29 close) at BB&T Capital Markets.

Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $106 price target (versus an $89.83 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $40 (versus a $33.75 close) at Deutsche Bank.

CYS Investments Inc. (NYSE: CYS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Exactech Inc. (NASDAQ: EXAC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at R.W. Baird.

Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $40 price target (versus a $38.45 close) at Sterne Agee CRT.

Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) was maintained as Outperform but its price target was raised from $69 to $72 (versus a $63.15 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE) was started with a Neutral rating and was assigned a price target of $66 (versus a $62.72 close) at Nomura.

SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM) was started with a Neutral rating and was assigned a price target of $22 (versus a $25.48 close) at Nomura.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $38 price target (versus a $29.04 close) at Susquehanna.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was started with a Sell rating and was assigned a price target of $44 (versus a $49.44 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Morgan Stanley has noted that investors might want to be careful about the rally seen in some of the oil patch as many headwinds remain in place. Rising production and a June OPEC disappointment remain as risks.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Arcelor Mittal, Chesapeake Energy, Domino’s Pizza, Juniper Networks, 3M, QEP Resources, Starbucks, YuMe and over a dozen more companies.

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