Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MSFT, GPS, HPQ, VMW, GOOG, CSCO ...

Analyst upgrades:

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Healthcare Services (HCSG) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Outperform from Perform on valuation as they see a trading opportunity following the recent sell-off. The firm established a $22 target on shares.
Citigroup upgraded Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Buy from Hold on its "solid" Q3 results and greater visibility. The firm lowered their target to $12 from $14.
William Blair upgraded shares of Healthcare Services (NASDAQ: HCSG) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's strong financial position and stable business outlook.
ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and added to the Conviction Buy List.
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was also added to the Conviction Buy List.
Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) was raised to Buy from Sell at UBS.
Cyberonics (NASDAQ: CYBX) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Analyst downgrades:

Baird downgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered its target to $20 from $31 following the company's weak Q4 guidance. Shares were also downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Goodrich (NYSE: GR) to Market Perform from Outperform as they do not expect a turnaround in the commercial aerospace stocks in the near term. The firm lowered their target to $46 from $83.
UBS cut VMware (NYSE: VMW) to Sell from Neutral and lowered its target to $15 from $21 following checks that indicate that consensus license growth expectations are too aggressive for Q4 and FY09.
Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) was lowered to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Gen-Probe (NASDAQ: GPRO) was downgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Overweight.
Goldman removed Emulex (NYSE: ELX) from its Conviction Buy List.

Analyst initiations:

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was initiated at Merriman with Sell rating. Merriman's checks indicate the decline in consumer and business purchasing is having a dampening effect on search engine marketing. The firm sees downside risk to consensus estimates and recommends waiting for a better entry point. The firm thinks shares could reach $200 to $240 in the near-term.
Oppenheimer believes Cadence Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CADX) is sufficiently capitalized to reach FDA approval of Acetavance and Omigard. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $10 target.
William Blair believes Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) must evolve from selling pure infrastructure hardware to providing platforms with higher value and intelligence. The firm started shares with a Market Perform rating.
Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL) and Boston Private (NASDAQ: BPFH) were initiated with Equal Weight ratings at Morgan Stanley.
EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) was assumed at ThinkPanmure with an Accumulate rating and $12 target.
John Bean Technologies (NYSE: JBT) was started with a Buy rating at Janney Montgomery.