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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM)

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:34:56 +0000

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

Advanced Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup , Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Cut to Neutral with $27 target at Citigroup.
ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) Maintained Buy but raised estimates ($19 target) at Canaccord Genuity.
Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ: MEOH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Raised to Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs.
Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Whole Foods Market. Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Maintained Buy but removed from Conviction BUy List at Goldman Sachs.

This is overseas, but BofA has downgraded Societe Generale and BNP Paribas to Neutral from Buy this morning.

Here were the top analyst calls of the last week condensed into one short piece.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, AZO, BAC, C, HFC, IMGN, JAKK, JPM, K, KEG, MEOH, MNST, MS, MYL, SPLS, TWX, WFM

Winners as Pfizer Loses Lipitor Patent (PFE, TEVA, MYL, WPI)

Administrator — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:28:30 +0000

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has a big day ahead of it. While it has been known for years, it is a massive date: Lipitor goes off-patent and will have generic versions of the statin drug competitors. Big deal? The last quarter’s annualized Lipitor sales was about $6 billion and the peak sales were well above $10 billion.

Canaccord Genuity’s specialty pharma analyst Randall Stanicky believes that generics will have 60% market share in 2012. How the pie is divided is still subject to uncertainty and the analyst sees three possible scenarios:

Scenario 1 – base case: Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) and Ranbaxy both launch. Under this scenario, it has no changes for Watson, Teva, and Mylan and it sees no surprises across the supply chain “where strategies and impact are well vetted.”
Scenario 2 – modest surprise: TEVA is involved, most likely via a deal with Ranbaxy. Stanicky is not convinced that generic Lipitor is TEVA’s “mystery” product but he continues to see it as an opportunity. This could offer modest upside to TEVA, although the call noted that a generic Lipitor is likely a June 2012 event for TEVA.
Scenario 3 – Other less likely scenarios include (1) Ranbaxy’s ANDA is rejected by FDA (or relinquished by Ranbaxy) and others come in; Mylan and TEVA would see an earlier benefit while WPI would be negatively impacted or (2) Ranbaxy is “parked” by the FDA, in which case WPI would benefit both by being alone on the market while TEVA and MYL could see delay to market (we have a hard time seeing the FDA allowing this given focus here.

As far as what others expect from Pfizer, two weeks ago brought a Leerink Swann downgrade where Pfizer was cut to “Market Perform.” All in all, Thomson Reuters shows a consensus price target objective from analysts as being $23.36. At $19.35 today, Pfizer’s 52-week range is $16.27 to $21.45.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) has been battered enough this year that this would be a big deal for its stock if there was a blowout win coming its way. Instead, shares are only up 0.6% at $38.51 while its 52-week range is $35.00 to $57.08. It would be up more if everyone thought this was a win for Teva. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) is up 3% at $67.80.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Biotech, Drug companies, FDA, Healthcare Tagged: MYL, PFE, TEVA, WPI

Whale Watching: Paulson & Co. Speared By Banks & Gold (BAC, COF, C, JPM, WFC, XL, NYX, GLD, TEVA, FDO, MGM, HPQ, AMCX, CEPH, COV, CVS, MYL)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:37:49 +0000

Paulson & Co. Inc. is another hedge fund group that investors use for Whale Watching, although this last quarter was not exactly kind to Mr. Paulson’s billions… The current 13F report shows total September 30, 2011 of $20.68 billion. While still huge, that is down from $29.057 billion just a quarter before. The biggest changes appear to be in the financial stocks and banks, as well as in gold. We have outlined come of the key changes of those and others below, including some new positions taken.

BANK STAKE GAINS: Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was listed as a larger position at 64.3+ million shares, higher by almost 4 million shares. Keep in mind that there are also positions in warrants due 2018 and 2019 in the position at BofA. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) was raised slightly to 22,200,000 shares worth $879.7 million, but the old stake of 21,100,000 shares worth $1.09 billion.

BANK STAKES LOWERED OR ELIMINATED (partial): Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was a much lower stake at 25.1 million shares worth $643 million versus a stake of 33.5 million shares worth some $1.395 billion a quarter earlier. J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was not even listed as a position, yet it was about 4.7 million shares at the June 30 report ( but there is still a warrant position). Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is a lower position of 23,847,900 shares worth $575 million versus the prior position of 33,600,000 shares worth $942 million. XL Group plc (NYSE: XL) was lowered as well to 23.675 million shares worth $445 million versus his previous larger position of 28.23 million shares worth $620 million. NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE: NYX) was dropped from the positions entirely after being listed as 3 million shares a quarter before.

PAULSON’s OTHER LOWERED POSITIONS (partial): SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) was cut by more than one-third down to 20,273,540 shares (now worth $3.2 billion) versus 31,500,000 shares worth nearly $4.6 billion previously. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) was cut by more than half to 1,976,900 shares worth $73.5 million from 4.18 million shares worth $201 million. The stakes in FAMILY DOLLAR STORES INC. (NYSE: FDO) and the stake in MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (NYSE: MGM) were also lowered by Paulson. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was lowered to 15.2 million shares worth $340 million from 23.5 million shares worth $855 million a quarter earlier.

PAULSON’s NEW POSTIONS: AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) is a new position of 5,000,000 shares worth $159 million, making Paulson a zombie fan for The Walking Dead. Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH) is a new position of 3,684,000 shares worth some $297 million. Covidien PLC (NYSE: COV) is a new position of 2,000,000 shares with some $88.2 million. CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) was another new position of 2,500,000 shares worth almost $84 million.

Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) was a higher stake of 24,896,500 shares worth $423 million versus 14,940,000 shares worth $368 million previously.

Fortunately for Mr. Paulson, the markets have recovered handily since the end of September and the start of October.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Mutual Funds Tagged: AMCX, BAC, C, CEPH, COF, COV, CVS, FDO, GLD, HPQ, JPM, MGM, MYL, NYX, TEVA, WFC, XL

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARCO, CPB, CRZO, CIM, CYH, EWBC, ENER, FGP, HPQ, HUM, KBR, MOS, MYL, PAAS, CRM, THC, ZIP)

Administrator — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:35:49 +0000

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

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; started as Buy at Citi; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Community Health Systems. Inc. (NYSE: CYH) Reinstated as Outperform with $35 target at Credit Suisse.
East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: EWBC) Cut to Neutral with $21 target at Credit Suisse.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut estimates and target to $1.50 at Credit Suisse.
Ferrellgas Partners (NYSE: FGP) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
KBR INc. (NYSE: KBR) Added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Reinstated as Outperform with $85 target at Credit Suisse.
Mylan Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Raised to Buy with $29 target at Argus.
Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) Reinstated as Outperform with $7.50 target at Credit Suisse; Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) Started as Outperform with $30 target at Oppenheimer; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

You are invited to 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: ARCO, CIM, CPB, CRM, CRZO, CYH, ENER, EWBC, FGP, HPQ, HUM, KBR, MOS, MYL, PAAS, THC, ZIP

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABC, BA, CEDC, XOM, FSLR, FWLT, GS, JPM, LVS, LM, PCS, MYL, ODP, OPEN, RBA, SNY, SNDA, SIRI, SRDX, VCLK)

Administrator — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:22:58 +0000

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

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $50 at Argus.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $94 at Credit Suisse.
Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Foster Wheeler AG (NASDAQ: FWLT) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Started as Buy at UBS.
J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Started as Buy at UBS.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse; Maintained Buy at Gabelli.
Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $22 at Argus.
Mylan, Inc. (NYSE: MYL) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Cautious as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE: RBA) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: SNDA) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (lathe Tuesday).
SIRIUS XM Radio inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Maintained Buy with private market value of $2.85 at Gabelli.
SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) Raised to Buy at Jefferies; Raised to Buy at Needham.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ABC, BA, CEDC, FSLR, FWLT, GS, JPM, LM, LVS, MYL, ODP, OPEN, PCS, RBA, SIRI, SNDA, SNY, SRDX, VCLK, XOM

Short Sellers Move Into Financials, Out Of Tech

247wallst — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:18:52 +0000

Short sellers moved into the shares of large financial firms, perhaps sensing the effects of new regulation and an exit from proprietary trading businesses.

The short interest in Citigroup (NYSE: C) rose 4.8% to 423.8 million, the largest short position in any stock. Shares short in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) rose 21% to 53.2 million. The short interest in Ambac, which recently went bankrupt rose 14% to 59.2 million. Share short in Bank of NY rose 27% to 21.1 million. Shares short in Synovus Financial were up 9% to 106.9 million. Shares short in KeyCorp rose 9% to 34.6 million

Short interest in tech shares fell almost universally. Shares sold short in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) fell 9% to 70.5 million. The short interest in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) fell 8% to 53.3 million. Shares short in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) were down 8% to 47.9 million. Shares short in Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) were off 6% to 49.6 million

The most shorted stocks on the NYSE were Citigroup, Ford (NYSE F), and Qwest (NYSE: Q). The most shorted stocks on the NASDAQ were Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), Level 3 (NASDAQ: LVLT) and Mylan (NASDAQ: MYL)

Data from NYSE and NASDAQ

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Short Interest Tagged: C, CSCO, DELL, F, INTC, LVLT, MYL, Q, SIRI, WFC

Druckenmiller’s Top Stock Sale Candidates (AKAM, AAPL, CSCO, C, EOG, JPM, MCD, MYL, NFX, WFC)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:33:13 +0000

What happens when large hedge funds shut down? They unload their holdings, at least assuming the clients say they would prefer to receive share distributions. Stanley Druckenmiller is shutting down his Duquesne Capital Management after the stress of managing money for others coupled with a lack of performance in recent periods. We wanted to see what the burned out Stanley owned in his latest 13F filing that was released on August 13. It turns that of his $2.38 billion in holdings as of June 30, 2010, there is a very high concentration in ten companies of the near-100 holdings in the fund… almost $1.4 billion of the $2.38 billion.

Bloomberg outlines the entire process of his decision to call it quits. We wanted to outline his top holdings in the fund. Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSEL JPM), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL), Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) are his ten top holdings. While most are not going to add significant pressure due to the vast trading volume, there were a few standouts here.

Company Stock	$(000) June 30	Shares
Akamai Technologies Inc.	64,912	1.6M
Apple Inc.	378,462	1504640
Cisco Systems, Inc.	91,740	430500
Citigroup Inc.	12,566	3341900
Citigroup (Units)	57,625	510000
EOG Resources Inc.	90,825	923300
JP Morgan Chase & Co	109,830	3.0M
McDonald’s Corp	128,150	1945500
Mylan Inc. (Conv. Pfd.)	80,918	76742
Newfield Exploration Co	55,686	1139700
Wells Fargo & Co	314,880	12.3M
Wells Fargo Conv. Pfd.	9,692	10410
Total Dollars on June 30	1,395,286

Most of these will easily be able to absorb the selling, and most may have already been sold. Stanley is known for wheeling and dealing fast in and fast out when he spots a trend.

Becoming a billionaire and hanging up the hat to start a family office at age 57 isn’t so bad. It isn’t as though he has to wait for his social security checks later this decade.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Entertainment, Mutual Funds Tagged: AAPL, AKAM, C, CSCO, EOG, JPM, MCD, MYL, NFX, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CATM, CLNE, ENOC, GFI, HAL, HUM, FSLR, WFR, MYL, POT, SINA, RNWK, WDC)

Administrator — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:42:58 +0000

These are some of this Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades seen from Wall Street research calls:

Cardtronics Inc. (NASDAQ: CATM) Started as Neutral at UBS.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) Cut to Underperform at National Bank.
EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) Started as Sell at Citigroup.
Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Raised to Market Perform at BMO.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $175 at Auriga.
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Raised to Buy and $124 target at Citigroup; target raised to $120 at UBS.
Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underperform at First Global.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: CATM, CLNE, ENOC, FSLR, GFI, HAL, HUM, MYL, POT, RNWK, SINA, WDC, WFR

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AOL, CBS, BEN, MYL, NWS, ORCL, RIMM, SFLY, VIA, DIS)

247wallst — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:05:53 +0000

These are ten of the most important analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning. You will probably notice a substantial focus on media-related shares:

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) Started as Sell at Merriman Curhan Ford.
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) Started as Buy at Needham.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Mylan Labs (NASDAQ: MYL) Started as Buy at SunTrust.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) Started as Buy at Needham.
Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Buy/$27 and raised 2010-12 estimates at Goldman Sachs.
Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Target cut to $120 from $150 at RBC.
Shutterly, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFLY) Raised to Buy at Janney.
Viacom (NYSE: VIA) Started as Buy at Needham.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Started as Hold at Needham.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls, Media, Trading Alert Tagged: AOL, BEN, CBS, DIS, MYL, NWS, ORCL, RIMM, SFLY, VIA

Are CBS (CBS) And Sprint (S) At Risk For Bankruptcy?

247wallst — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:34:25 +0000

Audit Integrity, a research firm, has come out with a list of the large American companies which are most likely to go bankrupt in the next year. The data behind the figures seem valid, but some of the companies on the list which include CBS (CBS), Sprint (S), AMD (AMD), and Sirius XM (SIRi) seem improbable candidates.

The corporate communications staffs of these companies and their outside public relation firms will tell their managements to keep quiet and not react. A reaction, they will argue, just makes it look like Audit Integrity knows what it is doing and that there is some validity to their analysis. Audit Integrity is probably counting on that. It will get a lot of exposure for the study and little ,if any, legitimate criticism.

Audit Integrity says its research services support risk management practices that help investors, insurers and others lower risk and improve performance with objective ratings and reports.

The basis by which it determines which companies are in trouble is to look at three methods for examining firms tha may be in trouble. Audit Integrity says“Each of these three approaches – accounting-based, market-based, fraud-based –is moderately effective on a stand-alone basis in predicting bankruptcies. Since the models are not highly correlated, each model has the potential to add incremental value to the other models. Audit Integrity combined the three approaches to determine whether the accuracy ratio of an aggregate model would surpass that of any single approach.”

The list does include some companies that are probably in deep financial trouble including Rite Aid (RAD) and Macy’s (M).

Also listed are American Air (AMR), which just raised $2.9 billion, which the analysis probably does not take into account. Transportation companies Continental Air (CAL) and Hertz (HTZ) are on the list.

Some of the better known public companies that have been targeted by Audit Integrity include advertising giant Interpublic (IPG) and US tire company Goodyear (GT). Not surprisingly, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), a casino firm that has battled for its life for months is included.

The balance of the list is Federal Mogul (FDML), Textron (TXT), Liberty Media Capital (LCAPA), Mylan (MYL), Apartment Investment and Management (AIV), Redwood Trust (RWT), Oshkosh (OSK) and Amkor (AMKR).

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted in Research Tagged: AIV, AMD, AMKR, AMR, CAL, CBS, FDML, GT, HTZ, IPG, LCAPA, LVS, MYL, OSK, RWT, S, SIRI, TXT