With the stock market finally putting up some across-the-board gains, and more appear on tap for Thursday, investors will be looking to Europe for the big news. The European Central Bank is set to announce an expected quantitative easing plan designed to help boost the stagnant European economy, and it could also help lift stocks. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst research reports cover new stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.
Here are Thursday’s leading analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from top research calls from around Wall Street.
Aspen Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan, and the price target was lowered to $36.00 from $46.50. The stock closed trading Wednesday at $34.48.
Babcock & Wilcox Co. (NYSE: BWC) was started at Buy with a $33 target at Merrill Lynch. The shares closed Wednesday at $27.01.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.
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Chuys Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN) was started at Buy at UBS.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird.
Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) was downgraded from Outperform to Perform at Oppenheimer
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was started at Neutral at UBS.
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ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT) was started at Neutral at UBS.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush.
SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Stifel.
Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Exxon Mobil, Lowe’s Companies, Paycom Software, Under Armour, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Verizon Communications and more.
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The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Eaton, Checkpoint, eBay, Emerson, Honeywell, SanDisk and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..