24/7 Wall St. » WBMD

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Calls of the Week (BX, APO, CMA, DELL, DANG, EXM, FSLR, GILD, LVLT, ERIC, MAR, ORCL, SUN, VVUS, WBMD)

Administrator — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:31:18 +0000

Each weekend we review the many analyst calls we track during the week. Some turn out to be very insightful and some turn out to be not so great. For better or worse, these become the top analyst calls of the week.

The top calls in the last week were seen in the following: The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX); Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO); Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA); Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL); E-commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG); Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT); LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC); Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR); Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL); Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN); VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS); WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD). We have added in color and summaries on each.

The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) hardly budged this week. The private equity leader was raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs and the price target was $19.00. That gave almost 20% upside. In the private equity upgrade was also Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) with a price target of $17.50 for another 20% upside or so.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) had a bad week, and it seemed to all get that bad mojo after the stock was downgraded to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus for close to a 4% loss all in all.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) took two downgrades on valuation after earnings failed to offer much continued inspiration: Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Cut to Hold at Needham.

E-commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) was a bit of an “Oops” this last week. The e-commerce site in China saw its rating Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse on Wednesday. Shares tanked the next day and the stock was down almost 10% at one point the following day. As the casino boss says after they clean you out, “Thanks for playing and better luck next time!”

Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM) has already been slapped silly, and its rating was cut down to Underperform by Zacks after already being down over 60% in the last year. The global shipping market is just not yet coming back into favor with many analysts.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was cut to Neutral at Susquehanna. While not a huge surprise for a downgrade any longer, this was just before earnings are due and shares closed down over 4% at $35.58 on Friday.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is now much less in favor since its hepatitis C treatment appears to be far less active than previously thought. We saw two more downgrades this last week: Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) was an incredible mover on Thursday after the communications player was raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Shares rose well over 10% on Thursday and we have an analysis on its move.

LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC) does not get many upgrades, so it was interesting that the telecom equipment player was raised to Overweight at JPMorgan on Thursday. Shares gapped up, closed up even higher on Thursday, and shares rose almost another 2% on Friday for a total gain of over 5%.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) is not at the 52-week high like so many stocks, but it was Raised to the highly prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs. The price target is $42.00 and that leaves plenty of implied upside from the $34.73 price on Friday.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is almost right back up to where it was before it the bottom was yanked out from under it after its poor earnings. Apparently that is a concern to at least one… Early in the week this one was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities now that the stock has run from under $26 to over $29 since the start of 2012.

Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN) is into refining, so higher and higher gas prices do not really help the outfit. This was not just downgraded to Underperform by Zacks Investment Research on Friday, it was named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) was a total home run this last week and analysts were forced to chase it higher and higher after the FDA panel recommended that Qnexa get FDA marketing approval to combat weight loss. After the news came the following calls: reiterated Outperform but raised target to $36.00 at Credit Suisse; Raised to Hold at Brean Murray; Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann; and Raised to Market Outperform at Rodman & Renshaw.

WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD) had another bad week after dropping from almost $27.50 down to almost $25.00 after warning that it could face a loss for the year. Some analysts just expect more pain or cannot take any more pain here with the stock down over 50% from its 52-week high. S&P Capital IQ cut the rating to Strong Sell from Sell, and Raymond James cut the rating down to Market Perform from Outperform.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls of the week, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls, Research, The Week Tagged: APO, BX, CMA, DANG, DELL, ERIC, EXM, FSLR, GILD, LVLT, MAR, ORCL, SUN, VVUS, WBMD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ALU, WBMD, URBN, RL, AWK, LEN, SVU, SHIP, LEDS, SNX, JASO, YRCW, CROX, HL, HRC)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:05:20 +0000

Equities opened modestly down this morning and the three major indexes have stayed within a few points of flat all day. The NASDAQ composite has remained in positive territory as the technology sector has benefited from a sharp buying trend in solar stocks. The EIA’s weekly petroleum report came in with a crude build of 5 million barrels, way above an expected gain of 1 million barrels. The report weighed on energy stocks since mid-morning. The euro has also been weaker today, adding a bit of push to equity buying. Crude oil is ending the day down, with WTI crude down about -1.3% at $100.92/barrel and Brent crude is down 0.64% at $112.55/barrel. Gold closed higher, at $1,640.50/ounce, after posting a four-week high earlier today.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 13 points to 12,449.08 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ rose more than 8 points (0.31%) to 2,710.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.03% or less than 1 point to 1,292.44.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; and American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) raised to ‘buy’ at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes: Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is up 6.3% at $22.07 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.53 earlier today; Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is down nearly -13% at $7.33; Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP) is up more than 5.5% at $2.65; SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is more than 5% at $3.69; and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) is up more than 8% at $34.80.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is up more than 37% at $1.97. The Chinese solar maker is among several Chinese solar companies getting a boost today from news that solar panel prices appear to be stabilizing. We have more coverage here.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is up nearly 16% at $11.38. The transportation company has said it will auction 62 of its surplus US sites.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is up more than 17% at $18.73. The funny-shoe company has estimated that sales in the current fiscal year will top $1 billion for the first time.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is down about -22% at $4.55, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.25 earlier today. The silver miner has lowered its production estimate due to a forced closure of a shaft at its Nevada mine.

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HRC) is down nearly -12% at $30.45. The medical equipment maker and services provider lowered fourth-quarter and full-year guidance last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims report
8:30 a.m. – Census Bureau retail sales report
10:00 a.m. – Census Bureau business inventories report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas status report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year bond auction
2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: ALU, AWK, CROX, HL, HRC, JASO, LEDS, LEN, RL, SHIP, SNX, SVU, URBN, WBMD, YRCW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, ALU, AWK, APA, AF, AZK, DRI, HBAN, PHG, LTD, PIR, Rl, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC)

Administrator — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:07:18 +0000

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

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Outperform with $12 target at Credit Suisse.
Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Raised to Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Astoria Financial Corporation (NYSE: AF) Cut to UNderweight at JPMorgan.
Aurizon Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AZK) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LTD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Started as Hold at Argus.
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
WebMD Health Corporation (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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, IPOs, M&A, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AF, AKS, ALU, APA, AWK, AZK, DRI, HBAN, LTD, PHG, PIR, RL, UL, URBN, VIP, WBMD, WCC

Media Digest (1/11/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:51:26 +0000

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to launch its first tablet PC late this year. (Reuters)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse will try to save their merger with a case for EC regulators. (Reuters)

Fannie Mae’s CEO to depart. (Reuters)

New York State is examining the use of force-place insurance by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and other large financial firms. (Reuters)

Motorola (NYSE: MMI) and Lenovo will launch smartphones powered by Intel (NYSE: INTC). (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will have substantial exhibits at the Consumer Electronics Show. (Reuters)

Kodak (NYSE: EK) sues Apple and HTC over patent infringements. (Reuters)

Some of Spain’s banks continue to make home loans despite an oversupply. (WSJ)

The Fed gives the U.S. Treasury $76.9 billion in profits. (WSJ)

Orange juice futures hit a record high. (WSJ)

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) reaches a settlement with miner families arising from an explosion in a Massey mine in 2010. (WSJ)

Egypt will ask the International Monetary Fund for money. (WSJ)

Fitch says that Italy is the largest risk to the euro. (WSJ)

The Hostess relationship with unions may determine whether it can stay out of bankruptcy. (WSJ)

The New Republic is for sale. (WSJ)

Tiffany’s (NYSE: TIF) sales stumble. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) launches a new product to tie search more closely to its social network. (WSJ)

The head of WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) departs. (WSJ)

Office owners hurt by expiring five-year leases. (WSJ)

Bank of NY Mellon (NYSE: BK) is close to settling on overcharging for currency trade cases. (WSJ)

Copper rises on demand from China. (WSJ)

Some Chinese exporters have such a large share of market that they cannot expand. (WSJ)

Investors add to positions in Greek bonds on the assumption of a bailout in March. (NYT)

Dividend increases are a sign of better corporate recoveries. (NYT)

India will again offer foreign retailers more access to its markets after reneging on an earlier arrangement. (NYT)

The head of Citigroup (NYSE: C) says banks should disclose more of the risk assessments of their assets. (FT)

Carlyle Group will list on the Nasdaq. (FT)

The battle between Intel and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) over smartphone chips intensifies. (FT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) sues more Chinese companies over piracy. (FT)

Banks in the eurozone continue to cut lending despite European Central Bank attempts to change the practice. (Bloomberg)

State-funded pensions in Europe are $39 trillion short on money to fund obligations. (Bloomberg)

Germany’s economy contracts in Q4. (Bloomberg)

Microsoft says interruptions of parts supplies from Thailand will slow PC sales. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BAC, BK, C, DELL, EK, GOOG, INTC, MMI, MSFT, NYX, QCOM, TIF, WBMD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (INTC, NFLX, SBUX, DIS, M, AA, ELX, BSDM, SNX, LEN, SVU, WBMD, GNOM, IDIX, TIF, LIZ)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:07:07 +0000

US equities opened strongly this morning and managed to maintain solid gains throughout the day. The in-line earnings report last night from Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) and higher commodity prices — based on a weaker dollar — led markets higher in the morning. The S&P 500 posted a new five-month high just before noon today. Today’s auction of 3-year Treasuries was strong, with the highest demand for dollars since May 2010. Volumes were not as heavy as might have been expected though. Crude oil is higher today, with WTI up 0.88% at $102.20/barrel and Brent up 0.64% at $113.17/barrel. Gold is also up more than $26, at $1,634.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 70 points to 12,462.47 (0.56%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 26 points (0.97%) to 2,702.50, and the S&P 500 rose 0.89% or more than 11 points to 1,292.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) maintained as ‘top tech/semiconductor’ pick at Credit Suisse; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML; Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) reiterated as ‘buy’ and estimates raised at Argus; The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Barclays; and Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reiterated as ‘outperform’ and price target raised from $32 to $36 at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Alcoa is up 0.27% at $9.45; Emulex Corp. (NYSE: ELX) is up more than 13% at $8.38; and BSD Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: BSDM) is down more than -7% at $2.09. After markets close today Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) reports earnings and tomorrow’s earnings schedule includes Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) and Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) is down more than -28% at $26.41, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.01 earlier today. The web-based healthcare company’s CEO resigned, the search for an acquirer was terminated, and the revenue outlook for 2012 was lowered.

Complete Genomics Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOM) is down nearly -26% at $2.88. The biotechnology company shipped fewer genomes than expected in the fourth quarter.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX) is up more than 25% at $12.10, a new 52-week high. The drug maker continues to bask in the reflected glow of yesterday’s takeover of Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) by Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY).

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is down more than -10% at $59.97. The company reported weak earnings and a lower forecast this morning.

Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) is down more than -13% at $8.63. The clothing company’s CFO resigned and the company lowered 2012 revenue estimates.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are giving speeches. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 10-year Treasury note auction
2:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Beige Book released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AA, BSDM, DIS, ELX, GNOM, IDIX, INTC, LEN, LIZ, M, NFLX, SBUX, SNX, SVU, TIF, WBMD

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, BHP, CELL, FTE, FIO, IVR, MDT, OKE, TLB, THOR, WOOF, WBMD)

Administrator — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:35:35 +0000

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

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: CELL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) Raised to Neutral at UBS.
Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) Raised to Neutral at Janney Capital.
Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ: THOR) Started as Outperform with $43 target at Credit Suisse.
VCA Antech Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; maintained Buy but cut target to $44 at Canaccord Genuity.

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: BHP, CELL, FIO, FTE, IVR, MDT, NLY, OKE, THOR, TLB, WBMD, WOOF

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (AIXG, NWSA, SCEI, WBMD)

247wallst — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:50:55 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Monday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Aixtron AG (NASDAQ: AIXG), News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA), Sino Clean Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCEI), and WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD).

Aixtron AG (NASDAQ: AIXG) is down nearly 5% before market open to $27.33, relative to a 52-week range of $23.80-$44.96. Barclays cut the share price target of AIXG from $40 to $28.

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is down more than 4% before market open to $15.00 on moderate volume. Shares of News Corp suffered from a weekend of bad news, resignations, and unrest among shareholders as a result of the News of The World scandal.

Sino Clean Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCEI) is up nearly 4% premarket to $2.11, relative to a 52-week range of $1.15-$9.67. The company announced it was acquiring 100% of the shares of Crown Energy Limited.

WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) is down more than 17% premarket to $39.42, within a 52-week range of $42.62-$58.55. The company issued adjusted FY11 guidance well below its previous mark.

Filed under: Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: AIXG, NWSA, SCEI, WBMD

Over $8 Billion in New Stock Buyback Plans (RL, APEI, DTV, EMN, SWKS, WBMD, ATML, GD, OC, PCL, AUTC, DISCA, FMCN, CVLT, WRB, WMS, VRSN)

Administrator — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:36:25 +0000

2010 has been called the year of dividend by us, but it seems that share buybacks in earnings season are still alive and well. Of the buybacks we have tracked in various earnings releases or new authorizations this week, we found more than $8 billion had been earmarked for buybacks. That does not even include some smaller plans.

The big buybacks we tracker were as follows, mostly from more recent to earlier in the week: Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: APEI), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN), Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS), WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD), Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE: PCL), AutoChina International Ltd. (NASDAQ: AUTC), Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA), Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN), CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT), W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB), WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE: WMS), and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN).

There are some of these that were new plans. Some were in addition to existing plans. Some appear to have been voted on earlier and were included in earnings announcements. We have a few of the standout plan announcements listed out below, and then we have a table showing the big plans and the total amount.

American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) got crushed after earnings and the amount thrown forward into a buyback may seem insignificant to a market cap north of $550 million. It announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a program to repurchase up to $20 million worth of shares of common stock.

Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL): “The program permits the Company to repurchase $250 million of its shares of Class A Common Stock, subject to market conditions. This amount is in addition to the $319 million available at the end of the first quarter of Fiscal 2011 as part of previously authorized stock repurchase programs, bringing the Company’s total current authorizations to $569 million.”

VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) was included in the earnings report and the company said the Board approved it last week: “the Board of Directors approved an additional authorization for share repurchases of approximately $1.1 billion, which brings the total amount authorized and remaining under the plan to $1.5 billion.”

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) repurchased $1.72 Billion of company stock in the second quarter and its Board approved an additional $2.0 Billion stock repurchase program.

Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) said its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program and is authorized to purchase up to $1 billion of its common stock.

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) authorized management to repurchase up to 10 million shares of the issued and outstanding common stock on the open market, which comes to roughly $635 million in today’s price.

Company	Buyback
Ralph Lauren (RL)	$569,000,000
American Public Education (APEI)	$20,000,000
DIRECTV (DTV)	$2,000,000,000
Eastman Chemical (EMN)	$300,000,000
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS)	$200,000,000
WebMD Health Corp. (WBMD)	$150,000,000
Atmel Corporation (ATML)	$200,000,000
General Dynamics (GD)	$635,000,000
Owens Corning (OC)	$285,000,000
Plum Creek Timber Co. (PCL)	$200,000,000
AutoChina International Ltd. (AUTC)	$55,000,000
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA)	$1,000,000,000
Focus Media Holding Limited (FMCN)	$300,000,000
CommVault Systems (CVLT)	$66,900,000
W. R. Berkley Corporation (WRB)	$260,000,000
WMS Industries Inc. (WMS)	$300,000,000
VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)	$1,500,000,000
TOTAL BUYBACK DOLLARS	$8,040,900,000

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: Dividend, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks Tagged: APEI, ATML, AUTC, CVLT, DISCA, DTV, EMN, FMCN, GD, OC, PCL, RL, SWKS, VRSN, WBMD, WMS, WRB

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ACN, BUD, BBY, SCHW, FSLR, INFY, KNOT, LIZ, DIS, WBMD)

247wallst — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:26:34 +0000

These are Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen from Wall Street research calls this morning:

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) Cut to Sell at Kaufman Bros.
Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) Started as Market Outperform at JMP Securities.
Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford; Cut to Hold at ThinkEquity.
Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY) Raised to Buy at Kaufman Bros.
The Knot, Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACN, BBY, BUD, DIS, FSLR, INFY, KNOT, LIZ, SCHW, WBMD

Top Analyst Upgrades (ALU, AMGN, HBC, IFX, SMTC, DIS, WBMD)

247wallst — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:26:31 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street this Wednesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Amgen (AMGN) Started as Outperform at Wachovia.
HSBC (HBC) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Infineon Technologies (IFX) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Semtech Corp. (SMTC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Walt Disney (DIS) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
WebMD (WBMD) Raised to Accumulate at ThinkEquity.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, AMGN, DIS, HBC, IFX, SMTC, WBMD