Analyst Upgrades: Apple Inc., Aetna Inc, and NVIDIA Corporation

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Josh Selway

Nov 11, 2016 at 9:29 AM

Analysts are weighing in on tech giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), insurance stock Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET), and visual computing specialist NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes for AAPL, AET, and NVDA.

AAPL is down 0.5% in electronic trading, despite bullish attention from brokerage firm Drexel Hamilton. One analyst said Apple Inc. is the firm's top stock pick for the end of 2016, explaining the stock's valuation is "depressed," and predicting "the iPhone 7 cycle will return the iPhone franchise to growth." Elsewhere, Daniel Loeb's Third Point has taken a 2.5 million share stake in the Mac parent. Although AAPL has pulled back from its 2016 high of $118.69 from early October, with the shares last seen at $107.79, options traders have kept the faith. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio is 1.95, which tops 91% of the past year's readings.

AET has been flying high all week, adding nearly 11% to trade at $119.90 -- and Credit Suisse now sees extended upside. The brokerage firm upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral," and raised its price target to $135 from $120 -- representing all-time-high territory. Most analysts are already bullish on Aetna Inc, with 10 of 15 calling it a "strong buy." What's more, AET's average 12-month price target of $134.60 represents a 12.3% premium to current levels.

Meanwhile, NVDA is set to jump 17.5% at the open -- which would put the stock at all-time highs -- after the company reported stellar quarterly earnings results. A number of price-target hikes have since come through, including $100 targets from B. Riley and Citigroup, while Barclays lifted its assessment to "equal weight" from "underweight." NVIDIA Corporation has taken Wall Street by storm this year, closing Thursday at $67.77, after ending 2015 at $32.96. Despite these fantastic fundamental and technical performances, 10 brokerage firms rate the stock a "hold" or a "strong sell," so additional bullish notes could still come through, and provide a tailwind for NVDA.

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