Stocks were indicated higher on Monday, perhaps on hopes that Warren Buffett was calling for America’s great days ahead routine speech at his annual meeting. Investors keep proving that they are more than willing to buy the dips and sell-offs, even with the S&P 500 trading at about 17.7 times its forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday morning:
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $114 from $110 (versus a $102.18 prior close) at Jefferies. It has a consensus analyst price target of $101.39 and a 52-week trading range of $69.58 to $110.80.
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $75 from $62 (versus a $70.92 close) at Goldman Sachs.
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Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm raised its price target to $3.50 from $3.00 (versus a $3.62 close). RBC Capital Markets took the other side, downgrading Groupon to Underperform from Sector Perform, and its price target was cut to $3 from $4.
Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) was reiterated as Hold at Jefferies, but due to increased expectations for Xtandi, its target price was raised to $52 from $39 (versus a $57.80 close, after a 2.9% gain). The consensus price target is $50.44, and the 52-week trading range is $26.41 to $66.40.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Buy with a $65.00 price objective at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The call is not quite the highest analyst target on the street, but it represents 30% upside, without the dividend considered. and it represents a call to go to all-time highs from 2000. Microsoft’s consensus price target is $57.86 and its 52-week trading range is $39.72 to $56.85.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $25 from $29 (versus a $21.77 close). Shares were down 19% on Friday, and the consensus target was $27.84, with a new 52-week trading range of $21.61 to $60.09.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades from this Monday were seen in shares of the following companies:
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $50 from $43 (versus a $47.21 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm sees its higher net asset value per share based on a rerating potential with higher earnings potential.
Aeglea Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AGLE) was started as Outperform with a $19 price target at BMO Capital Markets, which implies more than 100% upside from its $8.76 close. Wells Fargo gave it a new Outperform rating and a valuation range of $22 to $26. The company has only been public a very short period, and it has a trading range of $8.36 to $12.75. Its initial public offering was on April 13, with 5.48 million shares that priced at $10 per share.
CIRCOR International (NYSE: CIR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $68 price target (versus a $56.46 close) at Stifel.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital Markets, although this is after the big premium buyout was announced.
Eni SpA (NYSE: E) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Societe Generale.
Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $238 from $249 (versus a $220.45 close) at Mizuho.
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New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) was reiterated as Buy at Merrill Lynch with an $18 price objective (versus a $15.03 close). The call was after management meetings and its 4.5% yield, low risk balance sheet and a rerating for higher upside potential.
Parkway Properties Inc. (NYSE: PKY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $17.50 price target (versus a $16.45 close) at Mizuho.
Platform Specialty Products Corp. (NYSE: PAH) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Validus Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch, and the price objective was increased to $48 in the call. This is after Validus beat estimates, with notable losses much lower than expected.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, Ford, Gilead Sciences, Level 3 Communications, Sarepta Therapeutics, Western Digital, Whiting Petroleum and over a dozen more.
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