Stocks were looking for direction on Thursday, but the market is effectively at the 2016 highs. Investors have clearly reverted back to the trend of buying pullbacks that prevailed from 2011 to 2015.

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

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

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) beat earnings but saw an unenthusiastic response. Cowen raised its price target to $48 from $44 while reiterating an Outperform rating. Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating but raised its target to $46 from $44. Stifel raised its target price to $49 from $47. Shares closed at $43.47 and have a 52-week trading range of $36.00 to $51.74.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) managed to beat earnings. It was reiterated as Hold at Jefferies and the price target was raised to $60 from $58 (versus a $65.02 prior close). Merrill Lynch reiterated its Underperform rating and $56 price objective.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Outperform with a $120 price target at Oppenheimer ahead of next week’s earnings report. The firm did lower earnings estimates and said the supply chain news is negative, but the firm believes the focus will shift to the iPhone 7.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) was last seen up almost 8% at $86.80 after beating earnings expectations, versus a 52-week range of $60.91 to $84.17. Citrix has seen multiple target prices raised: R.W. Baird to $90 from $85, Barclays to $90 from $88, Goldman Sachs to $83 from $73, Jefferies to $80 from $67 and RBC Capital Markets to $90 from $80.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies. The firm said that ConocoPhillips is now trading 27% above the firm’s target price of $37 and has a three-turn premium to the sector’s average P/E by 2018, and it believes that its growth is dependent on a significant oil price recovery.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was last seen down just over 1% at $18.74 after earnings, as well as suspending its New England natural gas pipeline plans. Merrill Lynch maintained its Neutral rating and $19 price objective. RBC Capital Markets raised its target price to $18 from $17, and Stifel raised its target price to $21 from $19. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating. Kinder Morgan has a 52-week range of $11.20 to $44.71.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was indicated down 2% at $51.04 after mixed earnings, versus a 52-week range of $42.24 to $71.32. BMO Capital Markets has a Market Perform rating but raised its target price to $47 from $46. Pacific Crest has an Overweight rating but cut its target to $61 from $63. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $64 from $56.

You can follow @Jonogg to get the daily analyst calls and market reports directly on your Twitter feed.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) closed up over 2% at $65.11 ahead of earnings, and shares were indicated up 12% at $73.00 after beating earnings estimates. R.W. Baird has an Outperform rating and raised its target to $75 from $70. Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $80 from $75. RBC Capital Markets has ServiceNow as a Top Pick and raised its target to $90 from $85. Other price targets were raised at Goldman Sachs, Pacific Crest and Mizuho.

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was maintained as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm removed Tesla from its prized U.S. Focus List and from the Global Focus List. Tesla has a consensus analyst price target of $247.18 and a 52-week range of $141.05 to $286.65.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was reinstated as Neutral at Credit Suisse, and the firm’s new target is $105, versus a prior target of $85.

Agree Realty Corp. (NYSE: ADC) was started as Buy with a $45 price target (versus a $39.14 close) at Jefferies. The firm thinks continued portfolio growth, while maintaining low leverage and improving access to capital, will drive multiple expansion and narrow the valuation gap to peers.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch, noting that a strategic review by the company is now likely to support the stock despite having exposure to bad loans based on low oil prices.

First Cash Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy based on valuation at Janney, but the firm maintained its $48 fair value estimate, despite shares rising 58% from the 52-week low on January 28.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the target price was cut to $43 from $45 in the call at Credit Suisse.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse, with the firm liking the story but not at this valuation.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was reiterated as Buy and as a Franchise Pick at Jefferies, and the price target was raised to $48 from $44 (versus a $39.24 close). They say that PayPal remains underowned despite being a scarce asset with several potential catalysts coming over the next few weeks.

Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) was started as Neutral with a fair value estimate of $15 (versus an $11.15 close) at Janney. The firm sees an overheated subprime auto finance market and near-term market adjustments to a portfolio of personal loans.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned an $80 price target (versus a $63.67 close) at Argus.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included ArcelorMittal, Boeing, Intel, Schlumberger, Yahoo, Vivint Solar, Johnson & Johnson and over a dozen more.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.