Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PCZ, ALU, BIG, GOOG ...

Analyst upgrades:

Kaufman Bros. assumed coverage of Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from its previous Hold rating. The firm thinks the company's Q2 targets are achievable while 20%-plus growth should return in Q3 as comps ease.
Janney Montgomery upgraded Cogdell Spencer (NYSE: CSA) to Neutral from Sell as it believes last night's capital raise removes risk. The firm has a $4.50 target on shares.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) to Buy from Hold following the positive Levadex Phase 3 results as it believes the migraine drug could generate peak sales of $250M in the U.S. if approved. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $12 from $5.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was upgraded to Add from Reduce at WestLB.

Analyst downgrades:

Kaufman Bros. assumed coverage of The Knot (NASDAQ: KNOT) and downgraded the stock to Hold from its previous Buy rating. The firm expects macro weakness to pressure the company's national advertising and publishing segments in the near-term.
JP Morgan downgraded Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) to Neutral from Overweight ahead of the company's Q1 results as it believes a beat is already priced into shares and that Q2 commentary could be cautious. The firm lowered its target price to $27 from $28.
UBS downgraded BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its target to $11 from $14 citing lower earnings due to dilution from the recent capital raise.
Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.
Raven (NASDAQ: RAVN) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.

Analyst initiations:

Kaufman Bros. initiated Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) with a Buy rating and $500 target. The firm believes search can return to low- to mid-teens growth in 2010 and expects greater contribution from YouTube and display advertising.
Oppenheimer started Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) with an Underperform rating and $39 target citing weakening trends in the aftermarket automotive retail sector and valuation risk.
Pali believes Sysco (NYSE: SYY) is well positioned to be benefit once the consumer environment turns and finds the current valuation an attractive entry point. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $28 target.
GMX Resources (NASDAQ: GMXR) was initiated with a Buy rating and $20 target at Banc of America/Merrill.
Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI) was initiated with an Outperform rating at William Blair.
Michael Baker (AMEX: BKR) was started with a Buy rating and $45 target at KeyBanc.