The company’s stockholders approved an amendment to 3D’s Certificate of Incorporation in the act. This action increased the authorized number of shares of 3D common stock up to 220,000,000 shares from 120,000,000 shares. We would usually think this was to accommodate a coming stock split, but 3D systems has already split its stock once this year.

Avi Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems said, “We are grateful to our stockholders for their support. This increase in our authorized shares restores our flexibility to use newly issued shares of our common stock for appropriate corporate purposes.”

Be advised that 3D has already split its stock recently on a 3-2 basis for a 50% dividend. After looking into a recent SEC Filing, the company disclosed that on February 22, 2013, it had 91,302,577 shares of common stock outstanding. As of April 30, 2013, 3D still had convertible notes outstanding in the amount of $44.7 million and those notes were convertible into a maximum of 3,127,469 shares of common stock. When you tally those up, you still likely have to add in the 8,625,000 shares issued after the recent secondary offering after the overallotment option was exercised in full.

3D Systems sure seems as though it is getting ready to make a major move of some sort that would be a potential game-changer for it. The question is whether or not it will be good for shareholders. This stock closed down only 0.1% at $48.43 on Tuesday and the after-hours is down only another 7-cents. Its shares have traded in a range of $18.33 to $51.94 in the last 52-weeks on a split-adjusted basis.

Today’s positive analyst call came from Canaccord Genuity, which was a co-lead manager with Piper Jaffray, behind Needham & Company as the book-running manager. The firm’s Bobby Burleson reiterated his Buy rating and raised his price target up to $50 from $45 in the call. That is above the consensus price target of $42.75. Today’s raised price target is now also a street high, as Thomson Reuters shows that 3D’s top price target was $45 on the stock.

Earnings per share are being geared down, but that is due to share dilution after the offering rather than due to sales changes. The firm’s new model was revised down from $1.12 to $1.06 per share for 2013 and down from $1.62 to $1.52 per share for 2014. Be advised that the firm is signaling that today’s adjusted share price is 33 times its 2014 earnings per share target.

Revenue remains unchanged at $115.0 million for the second quarter of 2013 and unchanged at $485 million for all of 2013. The 2014 revenue estimate is unchanged at $614 million. Here is the consensus from Thomson Reuters: $110.8 million for Q2, $469.77 million in 2013 and $576.8 million in 2014.

Berleson’s research note said:

We are increasing our price target following healthy appreciation for 3D Systems shares over the past month. While share count increases slightly on recent secondary, we believe 3D Systems can deliver upside to consensus estimates driven by strong printer and services revenue. We also expect multiple expansion as the company moves into the commercialization phase for Bespoke (carpal tunnel braces) in the second half of this year.

Those who bought 3D Systems on the secondary are already up 10%. That offering went off at $40 per share and the overallotment was exercised. Shares are up 1.2% at $44.38 as of early Monday trading.

We have expanded our list of American companies that provide counterterrorism and of public companies selling to law enforcement and to the Department of Homeland Security.

Some things are going to be obvious. Airport security and security at public events will be now be on higher alert. If the trends of terrorism and sabotage keep escalating, Americans almost certainly will have to deal with more audio and video surveillance, hazardous materials suits being shown in the news, and increased monitoring of all sorts. These trends are likely to bring increased orders for companies that serve the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

The companies we have identified manufacture and sell products or offer services that fall under law enforcement and under Homeland Security. Some of these are spread into other areas, and we did not include the big corporate giants that have 2% or so tied to these markets. Note that some of these companies are very small, and some have declining revenue due to lower security expenses in recent years.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE: ATK) may be thought of for rocket boosters and propulsion for air and space technologies, but the company also happens to be the largest bullet manufacturer in America for the military, law enforcement and Joe Public. The company supplies bullets and ammunition to the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Armed Forces and others. ATK operates the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and recently announced the delivery of 2 billion 7.62 mm rounds to the U.S. Army. ATK’s value is almost $2.4 billion, and it is expected to generate about $4.3 billion in sales in 2013.

American Science & Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ASEI) scans for bombs and weapons in transportation systems. It is also involved in mail room screening as well, and any more ricin poison being sent in the mail should increase its public exposure. That being said, revenue has been in decline. This company has a market value of about $492 million, and 2012 annual sales were $203.5 million and expected to drop ahead.

Command Security Corp. (NYSEMKT: MOC) is tiny, as its market value is only about $16 million, but sales in fiscal 2012 were $141 million. The company claims to have 6,000 highly trained personnel for airport security, banks, government offices, health care facilities and other corporate and enterprise security.

FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) handles various degrees of imaging via night-time vision, thermal imaging, chemical and biological detection, explosives detection and more. With a market value of about $3.5 billion, it has expected sales for 2013 projected to be more than $1.5 billion.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is considered to be a national security technology player selling products, services and solutions for security in the United States. While diversified, Kratos recently announced contracts to deploy specialized security systems for mass transportation, rail and critical infrastructure awards. The company has a market value of about $285 million, and it is expected to have sales of close to $975 million in 2013.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) is an amalgamation of command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and services. The company has made many acquisitions over the past decade, and it is involved in many other defense applications. L-3 has a market value of about $7.3 billion, and it is expected to generate $12.6 billion in sales in 2013.

Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) is very small, but it makes chemical protective clothing, disposable protective clothing, safety gloves, turnout gear, high visibility clothing, flame and heat-resistant clothing and other items. Its value is a mere $19 million, and this one is often skipped or overlooked because of its size and liquidity. Sales are running at just under $100 million per year.

NICE Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE) is a software company that captures and analyzes interactions and transactions in order to realize intent and to extract and leverage insights real-time. Technically this is not an American company, as it is based in Israel, but the company claims that about 25,000 organizations in 150 countries are direct or indirect clients. Its market value is $2.1 billion, and 2012 sales were almost $880 million, but note that the company is diversified in many segments.

OSI Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS) is a real player involved in homeland security, health care, defense and aerospace industries. In this aspect, it is known well for its Rapiscan Systems for security screening in airports, ports and buildings. OSI has a market value of about $1.1 billion and is expected to have 2013 sales of more than $830 million.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) may still best be known for its Patriot Missiles and their more modern replacements, but it is also involved in integrated communications and intelligence. This ranges from seeing through walls and to communications monitoring via its Applied Signal Technology acquisition in recent years for its advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and services. Raytheon is worth about $18.7 billion, and sales are expected to be about $23.8 billion in 2013.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (NYSE: RGR) are the two public company gun leaders in America. It sure seems that recent events may drive yet another round of strong gun demand. Gun control legislation also remains up in the air after 14 people were stabbed at a college in Houston and with two bombs going off in Boston. It is possible that the argument against gun ownership may have lost some of its bite. Smith & Wesson is worth about $560 million, and the expected 2013 sales are about $580 million. Sturm Ruger has a market value of about $934 million and is expected to have sales of about $514 million in 2013.

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) makes the tasers, or stun guns, for law enforcement. It is hard to know if terror scares will lift its unit orders, and this company’s glory days were in 2003 to 2005, when the stock went from less than $5 to $30 briefly. Its shares have traded sideways since for the most part, and it is very thinly covered by Wall St. TASER’s market value is still more than $410 million, and sales were almost $115 million in 2012.

Many of these companies have been beneficiaries in the past due to Homeland Security orders, counterterrorism and increased sales to law enforcement and enterprises. We are not trying to pick winners here, nor are we signaling that these are all stocks to buy. We strongly suggest that any investors looking to capitalize on this trend do some serious, deep-dive research of their own on these and other companies before taking any action.

Another reason cited by some trading pundits is that low-priced stocks, especially those under $5, are not marginable. Again, a true statement. Investors looking to get leverage on stocks have a built-in advantage with low-priced names. They already are priced low, so more shares can be bought and require less capital than high-priced stocks. In addition, many low-priced shares have options traded on the underlying shares. Investors can always seek leverage via the option markets.

We looked through our research database for solid names that not only had good stories, but had Wall St. coverage. Typically the last thing large bulge bracket firms, or any firm for that matter, wants to do is pitch a low-priced name that gets crushed. Here are the names we found that investors may want to consider.

8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) kicks off the under $10 list. The company offers voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephone service in addition to contact centers, web-based conferencing and cloud-based computing services. Often rumored as a takeover candidate, the stock was raised to Outperform by Northland Capital in March with an $8 price target. The Thomson/First Call estimate for the stock is actually higher at $9.

Recently upgraded to buy at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) fits the bill. ON Semiconductor designs, manufactures and markets semiconductor components for electronic systems and products worldwide. The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock is $11. The Wall St. consensus estimate is $10.

Oppenheimer recently raised wireless chip maker RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) to outperform status. It also put a $7 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate is $6.

Another solid semiconductor stock to make the list is Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC). After it recently announced that eight of the worlds largest optical module manufacturers are using its S28032 multiplexer, the industry’s fastest, lowest power transmitter solution, analysts are expecting year-over-year revenue growth for the first quarter to be up close to 15%. The consensus price target is $10.25.

Investors willing to bet on future success may want to look at BPZ Resources Inc. (NYSE: BPZ). Owning license agreements for oil and gas production on 1.9 million acres of land in Peru, it is waiting for its earnings ship to come in. Analysts at Raymond James who cover the stock are looking for an almost 25% increase in revenue from 2013 to 2014. The consensus price target for the stock is $5.25. That represents a 100% increase from current trading levels.

Another stock that barely squeaks under the $10 level to make our list is exchange traded fund (ETF) sponsor and manager, Wisdom Tree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF). Having already made a solid run this year, Wisdom Tree is a stock to buy at Merrill Lynch with an $11 target. The consensus estimate is a touch higher at $11.50.

A smaller medical device name to grace our under $10 list is dentistry laser manufacturer BIOLASE Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOL). Allowing dentists to perform a multitude of procedures, the laser surgery is far less painful to the patient than more conventional and invasive surgeries. It has virtually no debt and revenues growing, and Northland Capital recently upgraded the stock to outperform with a $7 target. The consensus target is $5.22.

The ultimate low-priced stock with potential, telecommunications giant and perennial underachiever Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) was promoted from Hold to a stock to buy at Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) today. Already gapping up more than 10% in premarket trading, this ill-fated combination of the old Bell Labs, which was renamed Lucent, with France’s national phone company Alcatel, has frustrated investors for years with a chain of bad management and industry missteps. The consensus price target for the stock is $1.57. That may be eclipsed today after their upgrade.

Read also: 19 Stocks Expected to Rise 50% to 100% — or More!

We always stress to our readers that it is important to do your own due diligence when considering any stock purchase. All things being equal, you are always “safer” owning the bluest of blue chips or the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY) ETF. Taking a shot at quality lower priced names that have Wall St. coverage and visibility might be a great way to add some of that vaunted Alpha to your portfolio.

Some of these calls are very counterintuitive and some are actually not that much more aggressive when compared to other analyst calls. Some of the other calls come with great risk and great reward possibilities if they come true. Some are value stocks and turnaround stocks, while others are simply big story growth stocks. We have shown the calls and compared them to consensus price targets from Thomson Reuters’ pool of analysts, and we also have added color on each of these calls.

Our list for April is actually 19 stocks, more than the 11 we highlighted that could rise 50% to 100% (or more) back in early March. The list for April includes the following stocks: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Bona Film Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: BONA), Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR), Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK), MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP), OvaScience Inc. (OVSC), Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU), Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE), Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN), Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT), Sangamo Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO), Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT), Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) and Warner Chilcott PLC (NASDAQ: WCRX).

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is a call from mid-March, and we might have skipped it entirely had this analyst call not been so aggressive. Wells Fargo maintained its Outperform rating on the troubled chip and processor turnaround stock. What stood out was the $5 to $7 price range offered up, implying a double and then some, compared to the $2.60 share price at the time. That leaves even more upside from the $2.30 or so share price now. We had a hard time grasping the good news that Wells Fargo saw, but the analyst team there is not exactly thought poorly of by Wall St. and Main Street.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is in the battered coal sector, but it could have a nice snapback if UBS is correct. Trading in the mid-$5 range, down from the high $70s in 2008, this down and out stock could have nice upside. The UBS target is $9, and the Wall St. consensus price target is $7.65. That is close to 80% upside projected at UBS, but even the consensus target price comes to a projected 50% upside now. Another fairly fresh call at the end of March from Jefferies was at the street-high target price of $12, which implies more than 100% upside, if its insight is accurate.

Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX) was a fresh call from April 3, and the stock responded to the research call. RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage at Outperform with a $9.00 price target. That implied 80% upside at the time, ahead of the company discussing data on its drug pipeline at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting. The upside to this call is still about 61%, if the firm is correct.

A firm called D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $7.00 price target on Tuesday. After closing at $4.91 on Monday and hitting a 52-week low of $4.87 on Monday, that represents an upside projection of 42.5%. We have a hard time trusting the number offered up here now that the stock has fallen so much, but Thomson Reuters lists that the consensus one-year price target from analysts is over $9.00 on the stock.

The firm sees the bad news being priced into the stock. The investment in California is expected to allow it to be a low-cost provider of rare earths. With as volatile as the pricing and availability has been, this is important. Even the possible (or likely?) delay at building capacity may be factored in if the analyst is correct.

With a questionable management shuffle taking place recently, some investors may have the ultimate fear here in Molycorp. Shares are up 6% at $5.20 today, but the 52-week trading range is $4.87 to $35.79 and this stock briefly traded above $70.00 in 2011.

A move of this sort is questionable when it is from a small brokerage firm. Still, this is a battleground stock and any news that is even remotely good is likely to send shares higher.

Molycorp’s short interest as of mid-March was a whopping 37.2 million shares. That is the highest on record over the last year. Imagine what real news might cause in a short squeeze.

If you think that this call is a game-changer for the rare earth materials, it might not be. Calling for 42% upside is aggressive, so we want to see what is happening in the Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (NYSEMKT: REMX). That ETF is actually down 0.7% at $10.67 on the day. Molycorp’s weighting is down to only 3.79% now that its stock has fallen on hard times. We would argue that if this call was a true game-changing call from an analyst that the rest of the sector would be surging with it even U.S. listings only account for just under 15% of the total 82.46% weighting of the top 10 holdings in the entire ETF.

The company is getting scalped on news that it is ending its Phase III Revive clinical drug trial in critical limb eschemia, also known as restricted blood supply. Aastrom now intends to focus all of its efforts on the development of ixmyelocel-T for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy. The company has previously received an Orphan Drug Designation on the continued effort. An explanation is that it can pursue smaller studies with lower costs to get to the regulatory hurdle.

What else stands out is that Aastrom is cutting roughly half of its workforce. Its loss in the fourth quarter was $6.65 million, and it just appointed a new CEO at the beginning of March. Its research and development costs in the fourth quarter alone were $6 million.

At the earnings release in March the company said:

As of December 31, 2012, the company had $13.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $5.5 million in cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2011. For the quarter and year ended December 31, 2012, cash used for operations was $7.3 million and $29.5 million, respectively.

Unfortunately for investors, Aastrom’s market cap is a mere $34 million, according to Yahoo! Finance, and its year-end balance sheet shows a negative stockholder equity and negative net tangible assets of $32.1 million.

Aastrom is down 35% at $0.75 on the day. The new 52-week trading range is $0.70 to $2.72, and the shares have been around since the 1990s and used to trade many many times higher than today’s price. Honestly, the company is lucky that its stock is not down worse.

Here we look at the following active cult low-priced stocks with their short interest reports: Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU), Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA).

Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw its short interest rise to 16.29 million shares in mid-March from 14.355 million shares at the end of February. This is the highest level of 2013.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) has been challenging and surpassing that $10 price again, and short sellers upped their attack to 16.88 million shares short in mid-March, versus 14.69 million two weeks earlier. That is the highest short interest going back more than a year.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) saw a real huge gain in the short selling to 40.49 million shares from 27.51 million shares short just two weeks earlier. It has been higher before, but that is the highest short interest of 2013.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) shares are trying to break out above $10 again, but the short sellers are really boosting their attacks. The short interest rose 14% to 83.5 million shares in mid-March. That is yet again another highest short interest reading going back a full year.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) saw its short interest rise a whopping 22% to 38.84 million shares in mid-March, against 29.35 million shares short in late-February. On a nominal basis, that is the highest short interest since last July.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw a 3.5% drop in the short interest but remains elevated. That was 326.6 million shares short in mid-March, versus 337.9 million shares short in late February.

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) saw its short interest pick up again, perhaps on downgrades and less hope from analysts. The short interest rose almost 5% to 35.336 million shares in mid-March, versus 33.76 million shares at the end of February. That is the highest short interest in this name for 2013.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) saw its short interest fall to 399.789 million shares as of March 15, down about 3.5% from the 414 million shares short at the end of February. There is little comment to add here.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) saw its third straight gain in the short selling activity, up almost 8% to 28.21 million shares in mid-March, versus 26.13 million shares short in late February. This was yet again the largest short interest since last July.

This matters because there are many similarities between Apple and Amazon even if there are many differences. Amazon shares have pulled back only 10% so far, versus a massive drop of about 40% from peak to trough in Apple.

Apple’s drop was after a huge blow-off rally. Analysts were jumping on board calling for $1,000 and even higher. The law of large numbers sometimes catches up, and that whole gravity issue can be a real pain sometimes. Apple’s rally from trough to peak in the last two-year period was about 100% versus about 75% for Amazon.

Amazon.com is a very expensive stock based upon earnings, while Apple is not. Amazon trades at a whopping 170-times its expected 2013 earnings. Jeff Bezos has sacrificed margin to invest heavily in Amazon’s future customer base and in its infrastructure. Apple now trades at what is barely 10-times earnings, making the relationship between these two tech giants look extreme. Apple’s multiple against expected sales is 2.34, but Amazon only trades at about 1.5-times expected sales. The difference here is margin, with Apple being above 40% and Amazon being barely positive. Amazon remains a story dominated by its fourth calendar quarter. Apple remains a story around new product launches. Amazon still has its star founding CEO, while Apple is without Steve Jobs.

As you can see, there are many contrasts here between Apple and Amazon. We do not want to draw too many parallels simply based upon share price and based solely upon relative rallies and sell-offs. That being said, Amazon’s stock peaked at $284 on two different days in late January and took only about ten trading days to sell off about 10%. The stock has floundered since then and has not been able to hit new highs even as the market rallied to new highs.

Amazon shares closed down 0.5% at $256.41, against a 52-week trading range of $182.88 to $284.72.

The Wall Street Journal previously brought attention to an SEC filing from last Thursday showing that Fannie Mae would delay its annual report because it needed more time to evaluate whether or not it could recapture some of its valuation allowance for deferred tax assets as of the end of 2012. It is no small sum either: $64.1 billion. That being said, traders, investors and speculators are all going to be paying close attention here.

As a reminder, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain under government conservatorship. They are mathematically bankrupt, but that is a different story. It is also hard to call companies bankrupt when their shares are up so much.

Fannie Mae shares are up a whopping 43% at $0.7468 on more than 66 million shares. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. shares are up 38% at $0.715 on about 30 million shares.

It is hard to imagine this being possible, but technically these companies might be eligible to get listed on proper non-OTC exchanges if there is another day of gains like this. Of course those share prices would have to remain above the $1.00 for 30 to 45 days, but that is another matter.

It seems odd to see that MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) is down almost 4% at $11.35 after runs like this.

UPDATE FOR CLOSE: FNMA closed up 37% at $0.718 on more than 80 million shares; FMCC closed up almost 35% higher at $0.6998 on more than 36 million shares.