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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, A, DECK, GPN, TV, HMIN, ITC, IVN, ERIC, MMC, MCD, PAL, RGLD, TEVA, TLAB, TCBI)

Administrator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:25:13 +0000

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

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) added to Strong Buy List at Zacks.
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Started as Buy at UBS.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ: HMIN) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) maintained Neutral but cut target and estimates by Goldman Sachs.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Maintained Outperform on Focus List and target raised to $104 at Credit Suisse.
North American Palladium Ltd. (NYSE: PAL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Outperform at National Bank.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Underperform at Zacks.
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AET, DECK, ERIC, GPN, HMIN, ITC, IVN, MCD, MMC, PAL, RGLD, TCBI, TEVA, TLAB, TV

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (RATE, BWLD, DLLR, DLTR, TV, HA, IGT, JNPR, LVS, LNKD, MPEL, NOV, PCX, PM, SBGI, SBUX)

Administrator — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:25:13 +0000

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

Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE) Started as Buy at Citigroup; Started as buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Started as Outperform at RBC.
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James.
Dollar Financial (NASDAQ: DLLR) Reiterated Buy as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) Reiterated Outperform but raised target to $24 at Credit Suisse.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; also downgraded at William Blair, Oppenheimer, and Citigroup.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $60 from Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Market Perform at William Blair.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $19.10 at Citigroup.
National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $100 at Canaccord Genuity.
Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Phillip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $80 at Argus.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital.

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: BWLD, DLLR, DLTR, HA, IGT, JNPR, LNKD, LVS, MPEL, NOV, PCX, PM, RATE, SBGI, SBUX, TV

Reports of the Death of TV Networks Are Exaggerated

247wallst — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:50:12 +0000

Media companies and investors are treating the broadcast television businesses as if they had the plague. There are rumors that Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) wants to dump ABC and that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is ready to oust NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker. What gets lost in the all the media hoopla about the future of broadcast television is that its future is not entirely bleak.

First, a reality check — anyone who invests in media stocks solely because of a broadcast network is nuts. The floundering NBC television network is too small to make much of an impact on GE and on Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) once the acquisition of NBC Universal is completed. Broadcast TV, including “American Idol’s” home Fox Television Network, produced a tiny operating profit of $40 million for News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) in the first quarter. The numbers are similarly puny for the Disney business that includes ABC ($123 million) and CBS Inc.’s (NYSE: CBS) Entertainment Division ($134.5 million), which includes the CBS television network.

So the question becomes if the business is so bad, why bother. The answer is simple — there is plenty of upside. In this age of fractured audiences, broadcast television is still the easiest way to reach a mass audience in the desirable 18-49 demographic. Here are some recent ratings for top shows: “American Idol”-8.8 million viewers; “Lost”: The finale-7.67 million viewers;”The Big Bang Theory” 7.25 million viewers and “Grey’s Anatomy” -7.14 million. Cable hits such as “WWE Raw” and “SpongeBob Squarepants” have viewership of about 5 million and 4 million. The audience for cable news shows is even smaller. Number 1 rated Fox News Channel is seen daily by about 1.3 million people every day.

Then there’s YouTube and Hulu. The wildly popular Google video site will need to strike deals with content providers if it ever hopes to make a profit. That will mean charging users at some point. Hulu, which is owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and the Walt Disney Co., generated more than $100 million in revenue from advertising, according to the Los Angeles Times. Keep in mind that Hulu has not begun charging users though that’s only a matter of time.

Although network television advertising spending fell 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter, there are signs that it is rebounding in 2010 as the economy rebounds. Of course, cable is doing better and many challenges remain. Nonetheless, the business is far from being ready for the scrap heap. Broadcast networks will survive, in one form or another, for years to come.

Jonathan Berr

Sponsor: 3 Recovery Stocks to Own Now – Get the names of the best cheap stocks to rebuild your wealth in 2010 and beyond.

Filed under: Media, TV Tagged: ABC, CBS, DIS, Fox, GE, NBC, TV

Bill Gates & Cascade New Stock Holdings (AN, BRK-A, CNI, KOF, FSCI, FMX, GBL, TV, OTTR, PCX, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, BEE)

247wallst — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:35:35 +0000

These are the new holdings (sans ETF and sans derivatives) for Bill Gates’ CASDADE INVESTMENT LLC As of September 30, 2008:

AUTONATION (NYSE: AN) 5,263,588
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (NYSE: BRK-A) 4,050
CANADIAN NATL RY (NYSE: CNI) 33,859,544
COCA COLA FEMSA S A B (NYSE: KOF) 857,128
FISHER COMMUNICATIONS (NASDAQ: FSCI) 455,700
FOMENTO ECONOMICO (NYSE: FMX) 20,966,795
GAMCO INVESTORS (NYSE: GBL) 90,845
GRUPO TELEVISA SA (NYSE: TV) 19,680,400
OTTER TAIL (NASDAQ: OTTR) 2,556,499
PATRIOT COAL (NYSE: PCX) 2,408,653
PLANETOUT (NASDAQ: LGBT) 521,739
PNM RESOURCES (NYSE: PNM) 7,019,550
REPUBLIC SERVICES (NYSE: RSG) 34,873,836
SIX FLAGS (NYSE: SIX) 10,210,600
STRATEGIC HOTELS & RESORT (NYSE: BEE) 4,190,000

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about holdings of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, IPO’s, secondary offerings, private placements, merger, special situations, rumors, and more.

Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2008

Posted in Activist Investor, Insider Activity Tagged: AN, BEE, BRK-A, CNI, FMX, FSCI, GBL, KOF, LGBT, OTTR, PCX, PNM, RSG, SIX, TV

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (AAV, AMLN, CEPH, TV, VE)

247wallst — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:38:04 +0000

Below are some of the top early bird analyst downgrades we have seen early this morning with more than two hours to the open:

Advantage Energy (AAV) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) Raised to Hold at Canaccord.
Cephalon (CEPH) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Grupo Televisa (TV) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Veolia (VE) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
October 7, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AAV, AMLN, CEPH, TV, VE

Bill Gates: Now Garbage Man & Gringo Investor (MSFT, CNI, TV, FMX, RSG, WMI, AW)

247wallst — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:27:24 +0000

Tonight we received the quarterly filings for Cascade Investment LLC, which shows the personal investments of Bill Gates. While the investment vehicle listed many unique holdings out there that were much the same as before, there are much more interesting things to look at besides his now greatly-diminished role at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Cascade’s now holds 33.895 million shares of Canadian National Railways Co. (NYSE: CNI) with a stake worth some $1.627 Billion as of June 30, 2008. many of his other holdings look the same as before which you can see in this filing versus what we noted last quarter.

Other substantial Gates stock holdings outside the US are GrupoTelevisa SA (NYSE: TV) with 19.68 million shares worth almost $465million and a stake of 13.31 million shares of Fomento EconmicoMexicano, S.A.B de C.V (NYSE: FMX) worth about $605 million. If hekeeps contributing to those investments he’s going to be called GringoGates rather than Garbage Man Gates.

But the one standout stock he has been steadily adding to is innersecret dream he never got to pursue because of his infatuation with "0"and "1" and programming: he must really have wanted to become a garbageman. Yep, Bill Gates has steadily added to his position in RepublicServices Inc. (NYSE: RSG). As of June 30 he owned 27.192+ millionshares worth some $807.6 million at the time. But in more recenttransactions he has actually added to these. With the last filing thatcame out tonight he now owns just under 31.4 million shares, whichcomes to 17.3% of the company. The last round of purchases was 680,000shares with an average price of $34.83 for these buys. There wasanother filing Wednesday showing he had bought 1.35 million othershares at an average price of $34.89.

What is more important than anything is that Mr. Gates is investingright into the tempest of a merger. Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WMI)has just recently hiked its unsolicited offer to acquire RepublicServices by 9% to $37.00 per share. This is also a torpedo againstRepublic’s $6+ Billion deal to acquire Allied Waste Industries Inc.(NYSE: AW).

Regardless of how these mergers actually go, Mr. Gates may have wiggledhis way into a garbage, trash, and waste management monopoly after thedust settles. Who knows, he might even get involved in the merger anddemand that his shares convert to new stock in the garbage monopolyrather than just taking the cash back if that pans out.

Don’t forget to check out what his new best buddy Warren Buffett is doing with his billions of Berkshire investment monies.

Jon C. Ogg
August 14, 2008

Bill Gates Personal Stock Holdings (MSFT, CNI, FSCI, OTTR, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, FMX, TV, BRK.A)

247wallst — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Below are most of the equity holdings listed for Bill Gates’ own Cascade Investment, L.L.C. as of December 31, 2007. These were disclosed in a filing late in the week. Keep in mind that these are not tied at all to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and these also do not include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation either. This also does not include any ETF holdings. These are not quite all of his holdings inside of Cascade, but these are the bulk of the holdings:

Company (Ticker)                                                 Value                Shares
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)          $573,480,000    4,050
Canadian National Rail (NYSE: CNI)          $1,589,028,000    33,859,544
Fisher Communications (NASDAQ: FSCI) $17,298,000       455,700
Fomento Econmico Mexicano (NYSE: FMX)$412,617,000       10,810,000
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV)                   $467,803,000    19,680,400
Otter Tail Corp. (NASDAQ: OTTR)                $88,455,000       2,556,499
PlanetOut Inc. (NASDAQ: LGBT)                   $3,240,000          521,739
PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM)             $150,569,000       7,019,550
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG)          $852,483,000       27,192,451
Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: SIX)                            $20,728,000          10,210,600

If you want to see Mr. Gates’ new best friend’s holdings (that would be Warren Buffett) you can see all of those here for the same period.

Or you can see Carl Icahn’s top equity holdings as well.

Jon C. Ogg
February 16, 2008

Bill Gates & Cascade Holdings

247wallst — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:42:38 +0000

These are the holdings of Cascade Investment Management, L.L.C. as of March 31, 2007. For those that do not recognize the name "Cascade," that is Bill Gates own private investment vehicle he uses for outside unrelated and passive investments for his own money that is not tied to Microsoft operations. Here are the holdings as of March 31 per the SEC FILING:

Stock                                                                               $$Value          Shares
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (BRK-A)       $441,410    4,050
CANADIAN NAT. Rail (CNI-NYSE)       $1,387,530    31,434,745
FISHER COMMUN. (FSCI-NASDAQ) $22,147       455,700
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL (FS-NYSE) $57,483       715,850
GRUPO TELEVISA SA (TV-NYSE)       $579,288    19,439,200
OTTER TAIL CORP (OTTR-NASDAQ) $87,535    2,556,499
PNM RES INC (PNM-NYSE)                $210,581    6,519,550
REPUBLIC SVCS INC (RSG-NYSE)    $756,494    27,192,451
SIX FLAGS INC (PKS-NYSE)                $61,366    10,210,600
WESTERN ASSET
CLAYMORE US TR                                  $26,425    2,270,200
WESTERN ASSET/CLYMRE
US TR INF (WIA-NYSE)                            $48,872    4,113,800

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2007

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