Stocks were indicated to open slightly lower on Thursday, but the major stock indexes just recently hit all-time highs again. The Dow was over 22,100 and the S&P 500 close to 2,500. Another issue that cannot be ignored is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Many investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, September 14, 2017.
Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with a $38 price target (versus a $42.34 prior close) at JPMorgan. Apache has a 52-week trading range of $38.14 to $69.00 and a consensus analyst target price of $48.10.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $182 from $180 at Maxim Group. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating with a $180 price target. Apple has a 52-week range of $104.08 to $164.94 and a consensus target price of $172.29.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) was started with an Overweight rating and a $315,000 price target (versus a $268,450 close) at JPMorgan. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) also was given the same Overweight rating and a $210 price target (versus a $178.93 close). Though this is Warren Buffett’s shop, it is rare for an analyst report to be issued here.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $45 price target at D.A. Davidson. Shares closed up 0.25% at $38.27 and were indicated up 0.6% at $38.50 on Thursday. eBay has a 52-week range of $27.28 to $38.50 and a consensus target price of $37.71.
GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was started as Neutral with a $48 price target at D.A. Davidson. It closed at $56.18 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $32.43 to $57.61 and with a consensus analyst target of $53.35.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. Hess was recently featured as a cheap oil stock by Leon Cooperman, and its shares closed up 1.7% to $42.13 on Wednesday. Its 52-week range is $37.25 to $65.56, and it has a consensus price target of $51.26.
Nike Corp. (NYSE: NKE) was maintained as Neutral with a $52 price target (versus a $53.40 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that Nike’s return to normalized growth and when this inflection will take place do not seem that apparent. The 52-week range is $49.01 to $60.53. The consensus price target is $61.24.
Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $65 price target (versus a $53.60 close) at Citigroup. It has a 52-week range of $44.94 to $68.00 and a consensus price target of $66.88.
Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $78 price target (versus an $80.97 close) at D.A. Davidson. The 52-week range is $27.60 to $83.36 and the consensus target price is $83.82.
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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following: