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Analyst upgrades:- UBS upgraded Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) to neutral from sell and placed a short-term buy rating on shares based on the new Palm Pre. The firm raised its target to $6.50 from $1.35.
- UBS upgraded Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $7.50 from $5.75 based on its improved view of the company's credit risk.
- Canaccord upgraded Elan PLC (NYSE: ELN) to Buy from Sell and raised its target to $10.87 from $6.90, citing Tysabri potential.
- Brandywine Realty (NYSE: BDN) and Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
- Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and L-3 Comm (NYSE: LLL) were raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Analyst downgrades:
- Friedman Billings downgraded Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) to Underperform from Market Perform as it believes the risk/reward is unfavorable following the recent rally and Street estimates remain too high. The firm has a $17 target on the stock.
- UBS cut Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Sell from Neutral on concerns of lower capital spending, market share loss in China, and a more conservative outlook for 2009.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) to Hold from Buy to reflect Ryland's aggressive pricing strategy amid the housing downturn and its slowing cash flow generation. The firm lowered its target to $20 from $23.
- ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) and AIMCO (NYSE: AIV) were downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
- PG&E (NYSE: PCG) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
- Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) was downgraded at Credit Suisse to Neutral from Outperform.
- Jefferies initiated Fresh Del Monte (NYSE: FDP) with a Buy rating and $30 target. The firm believes the company has a competitive advantage in fresh fruit given its vertical integration strategy and thinks now is a good time to buy the stock.
- Maxim is negative on Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) based on sales concerns in the non-profit vertical, potential margin compression, and license and services exposure. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $10 target.
- Janney Montgomery believes Online Resources (NASDAQ: ORCC) is an attractive takeover target and could be sold over the next 12 months. The firm believes ORCC could fetch between $8 to $10 a share in a takeout. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating.
- Atmel Corp. (NASDAQ: ATML) was initiated with a Buy rating and $4.50 target at Goldman.
- Green Mountain Coffee (NASDAQ: GMCR) was started at William Blair with a Market Perform rating.
- Anadys Pharma (NASDAQ: ANDS) was initiated at Thomas Weisel with an Overweight rating and $6 target.
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