Posts for Ticker ‘COGN’

IBM Pays $5 Billion for Cognos (COGN)

IBM (IBM) said today that it was buying business intelligence company Cognos (COGN) for about $5 billion. The move takes IBM deeper into the software business and moves it away from its traditional hardware roots.

The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM’s Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on February 16, 2006 that combines IBM’s strength in information integration, content and data management and business consulting services to unlock the business value of information

Douglas A  McIntyre

Posted on: November 12, 2007 – 7:44 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (November 6, 2007)

Stock Tickers: ANF, ARO, AEO, ANN, ADSK, BMRN, CA, CHS, C, COGN, CWTR, ETR, GPS, GOOG, JCG, LF, MA, MSFT, ORH, ORCL, PAS, PNWIF, PT, RIMM, JAVA, SYMC, UA, URBN

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) started as Buy at UBS.
Aeropostale (ARO) started as Neutral at UBS.
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Ann Taylor (ANN) started as Buy at UBS.
Autodesk (ADSK) raised to Overweight at Lehman.
Biomarin (BMRN) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
CA INC. (CA) raised to Equal-Weight at Lehman.
Chico’s FAS (CHS) started as Neutral at UBS.
Citigroup (C) cut to Neutral at B of A.
Cognos (COGN) cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Coldwater Creek (CWTR) started as Neutral at UBS.
Entergy (ETR) cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Gap Inc. (GPS) started as Buy at UBS.
Googe (GOOG) target raised to $850 at Sanford Bernstein.
J.Crew (JCG) started as Neutral at UBS.
Leapfrog (LF) started as Strong Buy at Needham.
MasterCard (MA) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Microsoft (MSFT) removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
OdysseyRe (ORH) raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Oracle (ORCL) replaced Microsoft on Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
PepsiAmericas (PAS) cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
PhotoChannel (PNWIF) started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Portugal Telecom (PT) raised to Buy at UBS.
Research In Motion (RIMM) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sun Micro (JAVA) raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Symantec (SYMC) cut to Equal-Weight at Lehman.
Under Armour (UA) started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Urban Outfitters (URBN) started as Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: November 6, 2007 – 7:57 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Applix Becoming a Cognos Unit (APLX, COGN)

Cognos Inc. (COGN) and Applix Inc. (APLX) have announced a definitive agreement for Cognos to acquire Applix in a cash acquisition valued at $17.87 per share.  This equates to $339 million, or about $306 million net after you back out the Applix cash on hand.

Applix, Inc. provides business performance management and business intelligence applications, which is roughly in the same spots as Cognos.  Another business intelligence software company gets gobbled up.

The transaction is of course subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, although there should not be any regulatory hurdles here if you consider the size. Cognos expects the acquisition to be completed in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007.

Cognos shares are indicated down 2% pre-market on the dilution expected, although this is not even 10% of the size of Cognos.  Applix shares are up 22% at $17.60 pre-market, which is less than 2% short of the total cash consideration.  Applix’s prior 52-week high was $17.73, and that is up more than 100% from the $8.00 lows.  Considering Applix stock traded well under $5.00 as recently as 2005, this should be a done deal where all holders make money on it.

Jon C. Ogg
September 5, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he produces the Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: September 5, 2007 – 8:03 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Software, , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Targets Select IT Names (DRIV, MVSN, BOBJ, COGN, INFA)

Goldman Sachs has initiated several IT names this morning.  While most of the names are neutral rated, these are the stocks it views favorably in each group with values as the current issue.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: Cognos (COGN) started as Neutral, $1.70 2007 EPS target. Informatica (INFA) started as Neutral, $0.52 2007 EPS target. Business Objects (BOBJ) coverage transfer, also started as Neutral. Goldman Sachs also notes that it would look for a pullback in the names for a more attractive entry point.

DIGITAL RIGHTS: Macrovision (MVSN) started as Neutral and $32 target, $0.76 2007 EPS target.

MIGRATION SOFTWARE: Digital River (DRIV) started as Buy, $1.59 2007 EPS target; issues $54 target; attractive valuation atfer recent pullback.

Jon C. Ogg
July 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: July 11, 2007 – 7:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , ,