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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Chevron, Home Depot, Nike, Qualcomm, VMware and More
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Stocks were up very slightly on Monday morning, but not enough to offset Friday’s sell-off after the Clinton email situation was brought back front and center. The earnings floodgates are open wide, and this week will mark the apex of earnings season. Investors keep proving over and over that they will buy each pullback. High valuations and a bull market that is seven and a half years old have not prevented buyers from stepping in. Investors are also looking for new ideas to generate gains or income ahead.
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 research reports cover stocks to buy, and other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday morning:
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $60 from $70 (versus a $57.60 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $50.71 to $68.12 and a consensus analyst price target of $70.63.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was raised to Buy from Neutral and was added to the prized Conviction Buy list with a $118 price target (versus a $103.82 close) at Goldman Sachs. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $120 from $116. The 52-week range is $75.33 to $107.58, and the consensus price target is $111.71.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $121 from $152 (versus a $123.58 close) at Piper Jaffray. The 52-week range is $109.62 to $139.00, and the consensus analyst target is $149.87.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $46 price target (versus a$52.02 close) at Merrill Lynch. The 52-week range is $50.71 to $68.19. The consensus price target is $62.41.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $80 from $55 (versus a $68.40 close) at Nomura. It has a 52-week range of $42.24 to $71.62 and a consensus price target of $70.15.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $90 price target (versus a $77.65 close) at Oppenheimer. The 52-week range is $43.25 to $77.98, and the consensus price target is $78.86.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
Allergen PLC (NYSE: AGN) was started as Equal Weight with a $250 price target (versus a $213.44 close) at Barclays.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) was reiterated as buy and the price target was raised to $8 from $7 at Jefferies.
Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was raised to Buy from Neutral and added to the Conviction Buy list with a $46 price target (versus a $38.82 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $36 from $26 (versus a $27.60 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $68 from $94 (versus a $67.03 close) at Piper Jaffray.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $59 from $48 at Jefferies.
Walgreens Boosts Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform but the price target was raised to $113 from $108 (versus a $112.92 close) at Credit Suisse.
Here are six analyst picks under $10 for 30% to 200% implied upside.
If you want to see how earnings season is stacking up, with a view of sectors as well, see out preliminary scorecard.
Positive analyst calls have been seen in Apple, GE and Merck after earnings, and see how the Google post-earnings calls and Amazon post-earnings calls have looked.
Friday’s top analyst calls were in AK Steel, Alphabet, Amazon, Boeing, ConocoPhilllips, Nokia, Twitter and over a dozen more.
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