24/7 Wall St. » HOLX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BX, COP, DISCA, GGP, HOLX, AGN, NVDA, STRA, TKC, UNH, URI, WM, WLP)

Administrator — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:02:21 +0000

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

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Maintained Buy on Focus List with $81 target at Argus.
Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) replaced Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) on the Convition Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Strayer Education (NASDAQ: STRA) was named the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Turkcell (NYSE: TKC) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) Maintained BUY with $44 target at Argus.
WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGN, BX, COP, DISCA, GGP, HOLX, NVDA, STRA, TKC, UNH, URI, WLP, WM

The Twenty Companies That Wall St. Can Trust The Least

247wallst — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:31:15 +0000

Wall St. likes financial statements that give it deep insights into a company’s operations, especially its liabilities. It likes boards that make sure shareholders get as complete a picture as possible of a firm’s balance sheet and details of its P&L, cash-flow, and other critical financial measurements.

24/7 Wall St. asked Audit Integrity to put together a list of companies traded on US exchanges with market caps of more than $3 billion that do particularly poorly in the areas of corporate governance, detailed disclosure of high-risk events including M&A and restructurings, revenue and expense recognition, and asset and liability valuation.

Based on the Audit Integrity model, 24/7 created a list of the twenty companies that Wall St. can trust the least. Among the companies that the analysis flagged are Altria (NYSE:MO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), GE (NYSE:GE), Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WMT), and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW)

The list:

Company	Ticker	AGR Rating	AGR Score
Altria Group, Inc.	MO	Very Aggressive	4
Chevron Corporation	CVX	Very Aggressive	4
Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR)	CS	Very Aggressive	4
General Electric Company	GE	Very Aggressive	4
Hologic, Inc.	HOLX	Very Aggressive	4
NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.	NDAQ	Very Aggressive	4
PNC Financial Services	PNC	Very Aggressive	4
Teck Resources Limited	TCK.B	Very Aggressive	4
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation	BK	Very Aggressive	4
The Blackstone Group L.P.	BX	Very Aggressive	4
The Dow Chemical Company	DOW	Very Aggressive	4
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.	WMT	Very Aggressive	4
Wells Fargo & Company	WFC	Very Aggressive	4
Bank of America Corporation	BAC	Very Aggressive	8
Boston Scientific Corporation	BSX	Very Aggressive	8
Cephalon, Inc.	CEPH	Very Aggressive	8
KLA-Tencor Corporation	KLAC	Very Aggressive	8
Constellation Energy Group, Inc.	CEG	Very Aggressive	8
Fiserv, Inc.	FISV	Very Aggressive	8
The Western Union Company	WU	Very Aggressive	8

Methodology: The Audit Integrity Accounting and Governance Risk (AGR®) rating is a forensic measurement of the transparency and reliability of a corporation’s financial reporting and governance practices. The focus of AGR analysis is on identifying the measures associated with fraud, and quantifying those risks for interested stakeholders to company stock prices, securities litigation, and major restatement probabilities.

Audit Integrity applies over 100 accounting and governance metrics to a company’s publicly-filed information. The resulting calculation produces the AGR, a percentile score ranging from 0 to 100, with corresponding ratings from Very Aggressive to Conservative.

Companies rated Very Aggressive or Aggressive have proven to be much more likely to face class action litigation and financial restatements, and to suffer severe equity loss. Conversely, those companies that have been consistently rated Conservative are considered the most trustworthy.

AGR significantly improves the predibility of traditional risk models.

The AGR and its underlying metrics are used by regulators, auditors, insurance companies, investment managers, and corporations, and are often incorporated in reporting by major financial media.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Corporate Governance, General, Research Tagged: BK, BSX, BX, CEG, CEPH, CS, CVX, DOW, FISV, GE, HOLX, KLAC, MO, NDAQ, PNC, TCK.B, WFC, WMT, WU

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BIIB, FRX, GENZ, GILD, HOLX, LVS, MOS, NVAX, RIG, TXT)

247wallst — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:21:44 +0000

These are the top ten analyst research initiations, upgrades, and downgrades we have seen from top Wall Street firms early this Wednesday morning:

Biogen-Idec (BIIB) Started as Underperform at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Forest Labs (FRX) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Genzyme (GENZ) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Gilead (GILD) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Hologic (HOLX) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Mosaic (MOS) Started as Sector Perform at CIBC.
Novavax (NVAX) Cut to Market Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
Transocean (RIG) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital.
Textron (TXT) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BIIB, FRX, GENZ, GILD, HOLX, LVS, MOS, NVAX, RIG, TXT

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ABX, BGFV, DLR, DISH, HOLX, HGSI, MYGN, PMC, SVNT, TLB)

247wallst — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:33:16 +0000

These are ten of the top pre-market early analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen from Wall Street early this Tuesday morning:

Barrick Gold (ABX) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Big 5 Sports (BGFV) Raised to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
Digital Realty Trust (DLR) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
DISH Network (DISH) Raised to Outperform at CRedit Suisse.
Hologic (HOLX) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Human Genome (HGSI) Raised to Buy at ThinkEquity.
Myriad Genetics (MYGN) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
Pharmerica (PMC) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Savient Pharma (SVNT) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Talbots (TLB) Raised to Outperform at FBR.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 4, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ABX, BGFV, DISH, DLR, HGSI, HOLX, MYGN, PMC, SVNT, TLB

The 52-Week Low Club 7/31/2008 (DLX)(UMC)(BA)(AKAM)(HOLX)(BARE)

247wallst — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:02:44 +0000

Deluxe Corporation (DLX) Drops 2008 outlook and pays the price. Falls to $14 from 52-week high of $40.86.

United Microelectronics (UMC) Fails with weak results and analyst upgrade. Sells off to $2.53 from 52-week high of $4.48

Boeing (BA) Concerns about plane orders as airline industry falls apart. Down to $61.06 from 52-week high of $107.15

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Poor outlook for balance of the year. Sells off to $22.69 from 52-week high of $41.45.

Hologic (HOLX) Lowers sales forecasts. Dips to $18.18 from 52-week high of $36.44

Bare Essentials (BARE) Analyst downgrade. Plunges to $11.40 from 52-week high of $29.90

Douglas A. McIntyre

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (AKAM, AVP, CPKI, CBG, FDX, GGP, HOLX, JLL, TIN, THQI, TBL, TROW, USNA)

247wallst — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:31:58 +0000

These are the early bird Downgrades and negative calls from analysts we are seeing this Thursday morning:

Akamai (AKAM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Avon (AVP) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
CB Richard Ellis (CBG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
FedEx (FDX) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
General Growth Properties (GGP) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Hologic (HOLX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Temple-Inland (TIN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
THQ (THQI) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Timberland (TBL) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
T.Rowe Price (TROW) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
USANA (USNA) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
July 31, 2008

The 52-Week Low Club (NWK)(MGM)(PDGI)(RDEN)

247wallst — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:48:56 +0000

Network Equipment (NWK) Misses numbers and gets downgraded. Falls to $3.95 from 52-week high of $15.75.

MGM Mirage (MGM) Slowdown in casino earnings at key rival. Sells off to $47.89 from 52-week high of $100.50.

Pharmanet Development (PDGI) Awful quarter. Shares dumped to $15.41 from 52-week high of $43.05.

Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) Posts loss. Drops to $13.13 from 52-week high of $28.05.

Hologic (HOLX) Profit picture falls apart. Sells down to $21.25 from 52-week high of $36.44.

Irobot (IRBT) CFO departs as do solid numbers. Falls to $13.19 from 52-week high of $24.30.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIG, AZN, GLUU, GSIC, HOLX, HUM, JASO, LEAP, MON, WBD)

247wallst — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:24:00 +0000

These are not the only analyst calls this morning, but these are 10 impact calls we are reviewing this Thursday morning:

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Cut To Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Humana (NYSE: HUM) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) Raised to Overweight at Lehman.
Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) Raised to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Monsanto (NYSE: MON) raised to Buy at Banc of America.
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE: WBD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse,

Jon C. Ogg
March 13, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AMT, CCI, SBAC, BEAV, GWR, HOLX, SWY, KNOT, MDCO, UBS, VCLK)

247wallst — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:23:01 +0000

Below are the top 10 pre-market analyst we are looking at this Thursday morning:

American Tower (NYSE: AMT), Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI), and SBA Communications (NASDAQ: SBAC) all initiated as BUY at Jefferies.
Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.
BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Gennesee & Wyoming (NYSE: GWR) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
Safeway (NYSE: SWY) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
The Knot (NASDAQ: KNOT) downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan.
The Medicines Co. (NASDAQ: MDCO) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
UBS (NYSE: UBS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) raised to Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
February 14, 2008

Nasdaq Short Interest: October 31, 2007

247wallst — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:09:05 +0000

Below is the short interest in certain stocks traded on Nasdaq. The figures are as of October 31 and compare to numbers posted on October 15, 2007

Largest Short Positions

Company Share Short

Level 3 (LVLT) 139.6 million shares short

Microsoft (MSFT) 101.3 million

Charter (CHTR) 99.5 million

Sirius (SIRI) 79.5 million

Intel (INTC) 75.9 million

Largest Increases In Short Position

Company Increase In Short Position

Microsoft 23.9 million increase

Dell (DELL) 10,4 million

Yahoo! (YHOO) 8.0 million

BEA Systems (BEAS) 6.9 million

Comcast (CMCSA) 5.6 million

Largest Decreases In Short Position

Company Decrease In Shares Short

Hologic (HOLX) 8.5 million shares decrease

Oracle (ORCL) 7.6 million shares

Juniper (JNPR) 6.0 million shares

Sirius 5.6 million shares

Applied Materials (AMAT) 5.5 million shares

Data from Reuters and Nasdaq

Douglas A. McIntyre