Analyst inititations: NWS, LLNW, GLW and CKEC

MOST NOTEWORTHY: News Corp, Limelight Networks, Corning and Carmike Cinemas were today's noteworthy initiations:

RBC Capital is positive on News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) strategy of investing cash flow away from mature enterprises to fund high-growth initiatives such as Sky Italia and Fox Interactive Media. The firm initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $26 target.
Kaufman Brothers rates Limelight Networks Inc (NASDAQ: LLNW) a Sell based on a significant increase in the competitive environment with Akamai discounting on large deals, Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) introducing a competitive offering in November 2007, Korean major-CD Networks becoming aggressive, and new entrants becoming aggressive with their value propositions.
Deutsche Bank initiated Corning Inc (NYSE: GLW) with a Buy rating and $31 target as they believe shares are fundamentally undervalued given the company's strong fundamentals and promising outlook.
Carmike Cinemas Inc (NASDAQ: CKEC) was started at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating. The firm said the company is the most exposed to 3-D, which could lead to potential upside due to low margins and leverage capital structure.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

UBS started shares of St. Jude Medical Inc (NYSE: STJ) with a Sell rating and $43 target and shares of Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) with a Buy rating and $64 target.
Bear Stearns initiated shares of TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX) and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) with Peer Perform ratings.
KeyBanc initiated shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) with a Hold rating.
Caris started shares of Acme Packet Inc (NASDAQ: APKT) with an Above Average rating and $17 target.