Stocks closed lower on Wednesday because the stimulus talks are still looking dead, and the market was indicated lower again on Thursday. Though many investors missed out on the recovery since late March, many key leadership stocks have pulled back from their highs to more attractive entry points.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, October 15, 2020.

Albermarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $100 from $85 at Wells Fargo.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $24 price target at Mizuho, with the firm seeing an attractive risk/reward following recent drug study progress. Shares closed down 1.3% at $17.04 on Wednesday, with an $18.90 consensus price target.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was maintained as Overweight and its price target was cut to $3,740 from $3,750 at Morgan Stanley.

Avangrid Inc. (NYSE: AGR) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $64 from $58 at Wells Fargo.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $45 target price at DZ Bank.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $70 from $65 at Wells Fargo.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was lowered to $62 from $64 at Morgan Stanley.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $145 from $140 at Morgan Stanley.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $88 from $80 at Morgan Stanley.

Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY) was last seen down over 28% at $87.00 after a small earnings disappointment, but the sky-high valuations were under pressure due to top customer usage being lower. Credit Suisse maintained it as Outperform but cut its price target to $100 from $110. Robert W. Baird downgraded it to Neutral and Stifel cut its rating to Hold from Buy after the news.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was cut to $9.00 from $10.75 at Morgan Stanley.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was reiterated as Market Outperform and its price target was raised to $285 from $280 at JMP Securities.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was cut to $21 from $22 at Morgan Stanley.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $27 from $25 at Wells Fargo.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the iconic denim brand is seeing a resurgence in demand, and management is optimistic about the near term. Shares closed most recently at $15.51 and have a consensus price target of $19.40.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was cut to $31 from $34 at Morgan Stanley.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) closed down 2.3% at $541.45 a share on Wednesday, but it keeps seeing analysts raise expectations ahead of earnings next week. KeyBanc Capital Markets joined in on the upgrades by reiterating its Overweight rating and raising the price target to $634 from $590.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $47 from $44 at Morgan Stanley.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, with the valuation downgrade coming after running up almost 40% over the past month and with many positive aspects already price into the shares at this time.

SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $10 from $8.50 (versus a $9.17 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $39 from $35 at Morgan Stanley.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was maintained as Equal Weight and its price target was lowered to $45 from $46 at Morgan Stanley.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $355 from $350 at Raymond James. The shares closed down almost 3% at $321.85 after earnings on Wednesday, and the consensus target price was $357.84.

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this luxury ski resort operator is still struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. Shares last closed at $237.72 but have a consensus price target of $232.56.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was indicated down over 11% at $240.00 on Thursday after the company discontinued its VX-814/AAT program based on safety/PK. Truist Securities maintained its Buy rating but cut its target price to $305 from $330. SVB Leerink maintained its Market Perform rating and cut its target from $283 to $267.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) updated its longer term targets slightly higher, but the shares were indicated down 1.5% at $501.38 with the market weakness. Wells Fargo maintained it as Equal Weight but raised its price target to $365 from $375, and Rosenblatt reiterated its Neutral rating and raised its target to $450 from $350.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, BioNTech, Intel, Microsoft, Nio, Oracle, Peloton Interactive, Salesforce.com and Williams-Sonoma.

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