Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, AIXG, CTSH, FFIV, GDOT, HFC, ITW, IBM, LXK, MWV, NTAP, OPTR, ORCL, PIR, TYC, UA, UIS, V, VMW, GWW)

August 15, 2011 by Jon C. Ogg

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

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with $51 target at Argus.
Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Top Pick at FBR.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

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