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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Altria, Apple, GM, Procter & Gamble, Walmart and More
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Stocks hit another all-time high on Monday, and the market has now put in 70 or more trading days with new highs in 2017 alone. The bull market is now nearing nine years old, and the trend that continues to prevail is for investors to buy all the big market sell-offs. For that matter, buying on any day has brought profits in the major indexes. Investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for investors and traders alike. Some daily analyst reports and research reports cover stocks to buy and other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was raised to Buy from Hold at Berenberg. The stock closed up 1.37%at $72.65 on Monday, in a 52-week trading range of $60.01 to $77.79, and it has a consensus analyst target price of $71.46. Altria also has the 3.7% dividend yield.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $175 price target at Instinet. Shares closed up 1.4% at $176.42 on Monday but were indicated down almost 1% at $174.74 on Tuesday. Apple has a 52-week range of $114.76 to $177.20. This downgrade was based on it achieving the price target and is after the shares hit an all-time high. The consensus target price is $187.74.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. Shares closed up 2.9% at $52.15 on Monday and were indicated up another 1.4% at $42.74 on Tuesday. GM’s 52-week range is $31.92 to $46.76, and it had a consensus target price of $46.65.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $101 price target (versus a $91.88 prior close) at Deutsche Bank. The 52-week range is $83.24 to $94.67, and the consensus target price is $92.57.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Shares closed up 0.8% at $97.90 and were indicated up 1.5% at $99.34 on Tuesday. Walmart has a consensus target price of $100.73 and a 52-week range of $65.28 to $100.13.
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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:
Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHC) was reiterated as Buy with a $42 price target (versus a $31.86 close) at Jefferies. The firm believes its strategic options could include the sale of its U.K. business, monetizing its real estate and even a leveraged buyout of the company.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $114 from $122 after closing at $116.09.
Cabot Corp. (NYSE: CBT) was raised to Buy from Hold at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V. (NYSE: CBI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $19 price target (versus a $17.92 close) at D.A. Davidson.
Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $137 price target at Robert W. Baird.
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Northland Securities. The stock was indicated down 4.5% at $37.84 on Tuesday, after closing up 1.3% at $39.63 on Monday.
Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was maintained as Neutral at Wedbush Securities, but the firm did raise its target to $72 from $64 (versus a $77.12 close). The firm sees a stronger 2018 coming, but it sees valuation reflecting the good news.
24/7 Wall St.Delphi Technologies PLC (NYSE: DLPH) was started as Outperform with a $59 price target at Wells Fargo. It closed up 4.24% at $53.11 on Monday.
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGR) has been rated as Outperform and with a $34 target at Wedbush for some time, and that is versus an $11.90 closing price. The firm has maintained those ratings post-earnings and post-offering and it has had this same upside target for quite some time.
Envision Healthcare Corp. (NASDAQ: EVHC) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $41 from $71 (versus a $33.86 close). The company was maintained as Buy because of its formal strategic review making it an attractive buyout candidate.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $24 from $19 at Jefferies.
Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $24 price target at Citigroup.
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $65 price target (versus a $55.64 close) at Credit Suisse.
Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was maintained as Underweight at Morgan Stanley, but the firm did raise its target price to $135 from $122.
Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE: KMB) was started with a Hold rating at Deutsche Bank.
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN: NAK) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. Its shares were down 11.5% at $1.91 on Monday after announcing an interest sale, but the stock was up 2.3% at $1.95 on Tuesday.
Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $175 price target (versus a $153.33 close) at Deutsche Bank.
RSP Permian Inc. (NYSE: RSPP) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $46 price target (versus a $36.91 close) at Robert W. Baird.
Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was started as Hold and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $28.65 close) at Deutsche Bank.
Monday’s top analyst calls included Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon.com, Capital One, Costco, Delphi Technologies, Twitter and more.
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