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Analyst upgrades:- ING upgraded Roche (OTC: RHHBY) to Buy from Hold as it believes Roche will not pay more than $100/share for Genentech (NYSE: DNA) and that the Avastin adjuvant data due April 2009 provides significant upside potential.
- Oppenheimer upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Perform on valuation as it believes sentiment is at an all-time low and the stock has limited downside. The firm set a $5 target on shares.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Comerica (NYSE: CMA) to Equal Weight from Underweight citing valuation that adequately reflects credit deterioration in its commercial-heavy loan portfolio and aggressive government action.
- Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Analyst downgrades:
- KeyBanc downgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Underweight from Hold following weak channel checks. The firm adds that continued headcount reductions in the architecture and construction verticals create meaningful risk for Autodesk.
- Citigroup cut Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Hold from Buy to reflect the costs of the company's insurance deal with the British government.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Cullen/Frost (NYSE: CFR) to Underweight from Equal Weight citing deterioration in the Texas economy and potentially higher credit costs.
- P.F. Chang's (NASDAQ: PFCB) and Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) were lowered to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
- Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH) and Dick's Sporting (NYSE: DKS) were downgraded at Piper Jaffray to Neutral from Buy.
- Friedman Billings reinitiated PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) with an Underperform rating and $18 target as it believes no large U.S. bank should trade above its tangible book value in the current environment. The firm points out PNC's tangible book value is $18.74.
- Piper Jaffray initiated Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI), Moody's (NYSE: MCO) and RiskMetrics (NYSE: RMG) with Neutral ratings and McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) with a Buy rating.
- Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) was initiated at BB T with a Buy rating and $63 target.
- Perrigo (NASDAQ: PRGO) was started with an Overweight rating and $28 target at Morgan Stanley.
- Chattem (NASDAQ: CHTT) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $67 target at Goldman.
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