Benzinga's Top Upgrades, Downgrades For January 8, 2018

Top Upgrades

• Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Caterpillar Inc. CAT from Neutral to Overweight. Caterpillar shares rose 1.31 percent to $164.08 in pre-market trading.
• Needham upgraded Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT from Buy to Strong Buy. Applied Materials shares climbed 1.36 percent to $55.34 in pre-market trading.
• Desjardins upgraded Rogers Communications Inc. (USA) RCI from Hold to Buy. Rogers Communications shares closed at $50.44 on Friday.
• Susquehanna upgraded The Western Union Company WU from Negative to Neutral. Western Union shares rose 1.55 percent to $20.92 in pre-market trading.
• Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Radian Group Inc RDN from Hold to Buy. Radian Group shares closed at $20.98 on Friday.
• Analysts at Citigroup upgraded Meritage Homes Corp MTH from Neutral to Buy. Meritage Homes shares rose 0.09 percent to close at $53.65 on Friday.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded SunTrust Banks, Inc. STI from Equal-Weight to Overweight. SunTrust shares rose 0.05 percent to close at $65.91 on Friday.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded United Technologies Corporation UTX from Neutral to Buy. United Technologies shares rose 1.63 percent to $133.71 in pre-market trading.
• Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Hyatt Hotels Corporation H from Market Perform to Outperform. Hyatt shares rose 0.01 percent to close at $73.22 on Friday.
• BMO Capital upgraded Electronic Arts Inc. EA from Market Perform to Outperform. Electronic Arts shares rose 1.08 percent to $113.60 in pre-market trading.

Top Downgrades

• H.C. Wainwright downgraded Alliqua Biomedical Inc ALQA from Buy to Neutral. Alliqua BioMedical shares slipped 3.97 percent to $2.42 in pre-market trading.
• Jefferies downgraded Snap Inc SNAP from Buy to Hold. Snap shares fell 1.66 percent to $14.26 in pre-market trading.
• Analysts at Longbow Research downgraded GoPro Inc GPRO from Buy to Neutral. GoPro shares dropped 4.26 percent to $7.20 in pre-market trading.
• Analysts at Barclays downgraded Hortonworks Inc HDP from Overweight to Equal-Weight. Hortonworks shares fell 2.84 percent to $20.15 in pre-market trading.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Pandora Media Inc P from Overweight to Equal-Weight. Pandora dropped 4.84 percent to $4.92 in pre-market trading.
• TD Securities downgraded Methanex Corporation (USA) MEOH from Buy to Hold. Methanex shares fell 1.11 percent to $62.50 in pre-market trading.
• SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded Appian Corp APPN from Buy to Hold. Appian shares fell 6.75 percent to $37.00 in pre-market trading.
• Needham downgraded KLA-Tencor Corp KLAC from Strong Buy to Buy. KLA-Tencor shares closed at $109.86 on Friday.
• Wedbush downgraded GrubHub Inc GRUB from Outperform to Neutral. GrubHub shares slipped 1.53 percent to $71.85 in pre-market trading.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR from Neutral to Sell. Interactive Brokers shares closed at $60.34 on Friday.

Top Initiations

• First Analysis initiated coverage on Catalent Inc CTLT with an Equal-Weight rating. Catalent shares closed at $41.66 on Friday.
• Credit Suisse initiated coverage on ONEOK, Inc. OKE with an Outperform rating. The price target for ONEOK is set to $62. ONEOK shares closed at $56.06 on Friday.
• RBC Capital initiated coverage on Nutrien Ltd. NTR with an Outperform rating. The price target for Nutrien is set to $60. Nutrien shares closed at $55.55 on Friday.
• Analysts at UBS initiated coverage on CNH Industrial NV CNHI with a Buy rating. The price target for CNH Industrial is set to $17. CNH Industrial Partners shares closed at $14.11 on Friday.
• Lake Street initiated coverage on Meta Financial Group Inc. CASH with a Buy rating. The price target for Meta Financial is set to $120. Meta Financial shares closed at $90.15 on Friday.