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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apollo, ADM, Cigna, HubSpot, Intuit, Newmont, Nike, SAP, Time Warner and More
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Stocks were up big on Friday after a solid jobs report and less wage inflation. The major stock market indexes were indicated to open marginally higher on Monday as well. The bull market is now more than nine years old, and the one trend that has prevailed for more than five years has been for investors to buy all the big pullbacks. Investors also still have to decide how they want to be positioned for the rest of 2018 and beyond.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst and research reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets 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 Monday, March 12, 2018.
Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $132 price target (versus a $115.19 prior close) at Bernstein.
Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $40 price target (versus a $33.56 close) at Citigroup.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $50 price target (versus a $43.30 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Carlyle Group L.P. (NASDAQ: CG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $28.50 price target (versus a $23.05 close) at Citigroup.
CoreSight Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $110 price target (versus a $98.19 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: FENC) was started as Outperform with a $17 price target (versus a $9.40 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that Pedmark is the first compound shown to prevent hearing loss in children, and it expects approval in mid-to-late 2019 in the United States and European Union, with peak sales potential of $225 million in those two places.
Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $215 from $232 at Credit Suisse.
HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform with a $113 price target (versus a $120.50 close) at Evercore ISI.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $195 from $185 at Credit Suisse, with the firm talking up the third-quarter results and recent IRS tax filings data.
Middlesex Water Co. (NASDAQ: MSEX) was maintained as Buy at Janney, but the price target was lowered to $40 from $43 based on lowered earnings estimates.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform with a $43 price target (versus a $37.71 close) at RBC Capital Markets.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Outperform with a $74 price target (versus a $66.30 close) at Wedbush, with the firm noting that Nike is making progress toward accelerating sales growth and margin inflection.
Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $66 price target (versus a $52.72 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Ranger Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: RNGR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $9 price target (versus an $8.45 close) at Wells Fargo.
Regenxbio Inc. (NASDAQ: RGNX) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform with a $35 price target (versus a $36.00 close) at Evercore ISI.
24/7 Wall St.SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $108 price target (versus a $95.26 close) at UBS.
Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform with a $210 price target (versus a $212.20 close) at Evercore ISI.
Voyager Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VYGR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $29 price target (versus a $26.89 close) at Wedbush. While the updated data from open-label Phase 1 study of VY-AADC is on the whole positive, inconsistencies in the dose response and variability in L-dopa usage complicated this story. Voyager also was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform with a $26 price target at Evercore ISI.
XL Group Ltd. (NYSE: XL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities.
Friday’s top analyst calls included Akamai Technologies, Finisar, Helmerich & Payne, Kohl’s, Tiffany, Williams Partners and many more.
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