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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Amazon, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Schlumberger, Visa, Walmart and More
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Stocks were indicated to open marginally lower on Wednesday morning, but that is after the Dow hit new all-time highs on Tuesday and has come within 170 points of hitting 23,000. The one trend that has been present for at least five years of this eight-and-a-half-year-old bull market is that investors managing to keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every market sell-off. Those same investors are also on the hunt for new investing and trading ideas with their capital.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
The consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, October 11, 2017.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $105 price target (versus a $91.17 prior close) at Cowen. AbbVie has a 52-week trading range of $55.06 to $91.33 and a consensus analyst price target of $89.94.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, and the price target for the parent of Google was raised to $1,350 from $1.100. For more detail, see our separate review.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm raised its target price to $1,350 from $1,100. For more detail, see our separate review.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was also reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm raised its target price to $235 from $190. For more detail, see our separate review.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $90 price target (versus an $83.04 close) at Barclays. Gilead has a 52-week range of $63.76 to $86.27 and a consensus price target of $84.05. It has seen several upgrades and targets raised since its $12 billion Kite acquisition, but with far more muted expectations versus the past.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $157 from $145 (versus a $133.45 close) at Jefferies. The firm feels that the Pharma division is under-modeled by the street and will drive above-consensus revenue and earnings growth. The 52-week range is $109.32 to $137.08, and the consensus price target is $138.05.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) was started as Buy with a $24.25 price target (versus an $18.98 close) at HSBC. Its consensus target price is $21.31, and it has a 52-week range of $15.72 to $20.26.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $72 price target (versus a $68.33 close) at BMO Capital Markets. Schlumberger has a 52-week range of $62.56 to $87.84 and a consensus price target of $78.53.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $120 price target (versus a $107.01 close) at Wells Fargo. Visa has a 52-week range of $75.17 to $107.65 and a consensus price target of $113.03.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $97 from $93 at Jefferies. Walmart shares rose almost 4.5% on Tuesday after the retail giant committed to a new $20 billion share buyback plan. It now has a 52-week range of $65.28 to $84.88 and a consensus price target of $84.66.
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Other top analyst calls were seen as follows:
Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy but the price target was raised to $126 from $88 in the call. The firm noted that it is positive on BCMA CAR-T bb2121 but that the opportunity is largely priced in.
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Buy from Hold at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was started as Buy and assigned a $133 price target (versus a $117.82 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $35 price target (versus a $38.30 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $31 price target (versus a $27.31 close) at Merrill Lynch.
Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) was assumed with a Buy rating and was given a $240 target price (versus a $205.14 close) at Jefferies.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $160 price target (versus a $145.65 close) at Wells Fargo.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was started as Buy and was given a $24.75 price target at HSBC.
NRG Yield Inc. (NYSE: NYLD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $19 price target (versus a $19.00 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) was raised to Overweight from Underweight with a $24 price target (versus a $19.61 close) at Barclays.
Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $129 price target (versus a $113.91 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Sky Solar Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: SKYS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $5 price target (versus a $1.69 close) at Roth Capital.
Smith & Nephew PLC (NYSE: SNN) was started as Buy with a $42 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM) was downgraded to Reduce from Buy with a $35 price target (versus a $58.84 close) at HSBC.
TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) was downgraded to Sell from Buy with a $4.50 price target (versus a $5.35 close) at Citigroup. TravelCenters was indicated down 6.5% at $5.00 on Wednesday morning after the downgrade.
Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was started as Equal Weight with a $120 price target (versus a $106.58 close) at Stephens.
Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Alphabet, Check Point Software, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Intel, MannKind, Schlumberger, Transocean and many more.
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