Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VMW, VOD, BP, BHP, RTN, FDX ...

Analyst upgrades:

Morgan Stanley upgraded CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO) to Equal Weight from Underweight to reflect higher crude oil price estimates.
Goldman upgraded VMware (NYSE: VMW) to Conviction Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $29 from $27 following positive checks that indicate strong business actively. The analyst expects VMW's revenue growth to be up 9% in 2009 vs. expectations for overall IT spending to be down.
UBS upgraded ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $5 from $3.80 based on positive Asia checks that indicate an improving demand outlook and that the company could beat near-term expectations.
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Ashland (NYSE: ASH) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Analyst downgrades:

Global Hunter downgraded shares of InfoLogix (NASDAQ: IFLG) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q4 loss to reflect uncertainty with its capital restructuring.
Goldman cut BP Plc (NYSE: BP) to Sell from Neutral on valuation and its expectation for a production decline in 2010.
Deutsche Bank downgraded Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) to Sell from Hold on valuation following the recent rally as it expects better entry points into the company's seasonally weak June quarter. Despite downgrading, Deutsche Bank raised its price target on Seagate to $4.50 from $4.
BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) was lowered to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) was downgraded to Sell from Buy at Citigroup and to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was downgraded at Credit Suisse to Underperform from Neutral.

Analyst initiations:

Global Hunter expects Arena Resources (NYSE: ARD) to outperform peers as the economy recovers and commodity prices continue to move higher. The firm set a Buy rating and $40 price target on the stock.
Morgan Keegan views Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) as undervalued given its diversification, operating margins, and international presence. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating.
William Blair initiated FedEx (NYSE: FDX) with a Market Perform rating and expects the company's near-term results to be impacted by sluggish freight demand and the customer shift to lower-margin shipping products. However, they believe FedEx is attractively positioned to benefit from positive long-term secular trends.
F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) was initiated at Thomas Weisel with a Market Weight rating and $24 target.
Siemens (NYSE: SI) was assumed with a Market Perform rating at Bernstein.
Hallador Petroleum (OTC: HPCO) was started at Wunderlich with a Buy rating and $5.35 target.