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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AXP, ATML, BLK, CVX, CLR, EPR, EQR, FTE, HBC, JNPR, LEN, LECO, MWE, MSFT, OAS, SVU)

Administrator — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:29:11 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Thursday morning.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Reiterated Buy with $60 target at Argus.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Maintained Buy but cut target to $11 at Canaccord Genuity.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Started as Buy at UBS.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Maintained Outperform but cut earnings estimates at Credit Suisse.
Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) Cut to Hold with $79 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $34 from $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold and lowered estimates at Argus.
Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) Cut to Hold with $32 target at Canaccord Genuity.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $7 from $10 at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ATML, AXP, BLK, CLR, CVX, EPR, EQR, FTE, HBC, JNPR, LECO, LEN, MSFT, MWE, OAS, SVU

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALSK, ADSK, AVP, NILE, CAAS, DWA, EQR, HRB, PCLN, RAD, ROVI, SPPI, TGH, WAG, WPO)

Administrator — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:06:16 +0000

These are some of Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ALSK) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
China Automotive Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CAAS) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) Cut to Sell at Janney.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Raised to Buy at Argus.
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Cut to Hold at S&P Capital IQ (late-Tuesday).
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI) has seen at least three downgrades: Collins Stewart, CLSA, Brean Murray.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPI) named Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.
Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: TGH) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADSK, ALSK, AVP, CAAS, DWA, EQR, HRB, NILE, PCLN, RAD, ROVI, SPPI, TGH, WAG, WPO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIXG, NLY, BUD, AVB, BRK-A, EQR, POT, TEL, CREE, FLEX, JBL, POT, SKH, TEL, VECO)

Administrator — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:06:42 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street firms:

Aixtron AG (NASDAQ: AIXG) Started as Buy at Sterne Agee
Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Started as Buy at Wunderlich Securities.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) Started At Overweight By HSBC
AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) Started as Buy at Jefferies; Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) Cut to Sell from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Started At Buy By Jefferies
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Cut target ($105) and estimates at CIBC.
Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) Started as Underweight at J.P. Morgan.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Started as Buy at Sterne Agee
Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) Started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) Started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Cut target ($105) and estimates at CIBC.
Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. (NYSE: SKH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies; also cut late yesterday at JMP Securities and at Credit Suisse after the stock imploded.
Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) Started as Underweight at J.P. Morgan
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) Started as Buy at Sterne Agee

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIXG, AVB, BRK-A, BUD, CREE, EQR, FLEX, JBL, NLY, POT, SKH, TEL, VECO

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (BIDU, EQR, FTR, JASO, ERIC, MOT, S, STP, SYY, TWC)

247wallst — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:54:17 +0000

These are this Tuesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this morning from Wall Street research calls:

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Started as Hold at Kaufman Bros.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Frontier Communications (NYSEL FTR) Cut to Underperform at D.A.Davidson.
JA Solar Holdings Co. (NASDAQ: JASO) Raised to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
L.M. Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) STarted as Outperform at Bernstein.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) Cut to Neutral at Pali Research.
Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) Raised to Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) Started as Buy at Needham.

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JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BIDU, EQR, ERIC, FTR, JASO, MOT, S, STP, SYY, TWC

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ADBE, CRUS, DVA, EEQ, EQR, IP, LNCR, RGLD, WIN, BRL, MFLX, MYL, TEVA, WPI)

247wallst — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:59:00 +0000

These are not the only analyst impact calls, but these are the top research notes that 247WallSt.com is focusing on:

Adobe Systems (ADBE) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
DaVita (DVA) raised to Buy at Oppenheimer.
Embarq (EQ) raised to Overweight at J.P.Morgan.
Equity Residential (EQR) raised to Overweight at Lehman.
International Paper (IP) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Lincare (LNCR) downgraded to Neutral at Oppenheimer.
Royal Gold (RGLD) raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Windstream (WIN) downgraded to Underweight at J.P.Morgan.
BANC OF AMERICA ON DRUGS: Barr Pharma (BRL) started as Buy; Multi-Fineline (MFLX) started as Buy; Mylan Labs (MYL) started as Buy; Teva Pharma (TEVA) started as Buy; Watson Pharma (WPI) started as neutral; ZymoGenetics (ZGEN) downgraded to Neutral.

Jon C. Ogg
December 18, 2007

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

The Day In Stock Buybacks (SMTC, ASI, EQR, DFS, LCUT, IBM, CPT)

247wallst — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:59:58 +0000

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) has purchased a total of 9,836,066 shares of its common stock for an aggregate price of $169.4 million under an accelerated buyback plan; it intends to resume purchasing shares of its common stock under its existing stock repurchase program, under which approximately $50.3 million of remaining authority exists.

CMGI Inc. (NASDAQ:CMGI) noted along with its earnings that it had spent $8 million over the last quarter of its $50 million share buyback plan.

American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ASI) has approved a buyback program for up to 500,000 shares of common stock. This is only about $9.5 million at current prices, and the company’s market cap is $204 million.

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) has authorized an additional $500 million to be used in its share repurchase program. Since the beginning of 2007, the company has repurchased and retired 26,694,346 of its common shares at an average price of $44.88 per share for an aggregate purchase of approximately $1.2 billion. Approximately $3.8 million currently remains available under the $500 million program previously announced.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) will record a non-cash impairment charge related to its Goldfish MasterCard and Visa credit card business in the United Kingdom in the quarter ending Nov. 30, 2007 estimated as approximated $422 million in goodwill writedowns. Separately, the company has approved a share repurchase program for up to $1 billion of its common stock through November 30, 2010.

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCUT) will close 30 underperforming outlet stores and its Board of Directors authorized an increase in the amount of its stock repurchase program to $40 million from $20 million. Its market cap is $164 million.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that it plans to repurchase up to $1 billion of its outstanding common stock in open market transactions by the end of February 2008 rather than its original plans for March and April of 2008, are in addition to a $12.5 billion accelerated share repurchase announced earlier this year.

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) updated progress made on its stock repurchase program: During November 2007, Camden repurchased 1.6 million common shares at an average price per share of $52.03, for a total of $81.9 million. Year-to-date, Camden has now repurchased 2.9 million shares of common stock at an average price per share of $57.60, for a total of $168.4 million.

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2007

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AKAM, AXA, BP, CVX, LLNW, MYL, TTGT, TRW, BWA, LEA, AVB, EQR, BRE)

247wallst — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:55:10 +0000

These are not the only impact analyst calls today, but these are the top calls that 24/7 Wall St. is focusing on:

Akamai Tech (AKAM) started as Sector Perform at CIBC.
AXA (AXA) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BP (BP) & Chevron (CVX) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
Limelight Networks (LLNW) started as Outperform at CIBC.
Mylan ((MYL) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Techtarget (TTGT) raised to Buy at Oppenheimer.
Goldman Sachs turns cautious on the automotive supply group: TRW (TRW), Borg Warner (BWA), and Lear (LEA).
UBS extremely late downgrades on residential REIT’s: Avalon Bay (AVB) cut to Neutral; Equity Residential (EQR) cut to Sell; BRE Properties (BRE) cut to Sell.

Jon C. Ogg
November 27, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

More Buyout Predictions

247wallst — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:51:34 +0000

On CNBC’s Stop Trading segment today, Jim Cramer talked with Alexander Goldfarb from UBS about Archstone Smith (ASN) on a potential buyout. An industry newsletter said that Tischman may be in talks to do a deal with Archstone. He doesn’t know if there are talks right now, but he thinks it would make sense and the companies are atttractive. Apartment Investment Trust (AIV) trades at a 15% discount to net asset value and that concerns are unwarranted. Two of the other three that were noted as potential buys are Essex Property trust (ESS) and Equity Residential (EQR).

Cramer said that he thinks Cleveland Cliffs will be acquired imminently and that stock is up 8% today, and they noted call options activity.

Jon C. Ogg
May 25, 2007