Analyst upgrades:- Canaccord upgraded Imperial Oil (NYSE: IMO) to Buy from Speculative Buy following an increase in crude oil forecast.
- BT Group (NYSE: BT) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.
- Novartis (NYSE: NVS) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
- CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
- AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Sandler O'Neill.
Analyst downgrades:
- FBR Capital downgraded Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO) to Underperform from Market Perform after channel checks indicated deal closure rates have not improved and the Vurv customer migration is facing headwinds. The firm lowered its target on shares to $14 from $17.
- Stephens downgraded Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) to Underweight from Equal Weight on valuation, declining demand, and expectations FY10 estimates are too high.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) to Underweight from Equal Weight. The firm, which has a $42 target on the stock, believes shares discount scrap prices above current levels and that metal margins will be pressured.
- NBTY Inc (NYSE: NTY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley.
- Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.
- Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS and to Reduce from Add at Natixis.
- ThinkEquity initiated Alexion (ALXN) with a Sell rating and $28 target citing rich valuation and risk of Soliris failing to meet market expectations, given the heterogeneous patient population.
- Leerink believes Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY) is managing well its ADHD franchise transition and finds the current valuation attractive. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and thinks high $40's is a reasonable price for shares.
- Pali Capital initiated Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) with a Buy rating and $87 target given improving international flow trends, solid balance sheet, and relatively low compensation structure.
- Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP) was initiated with a Buy rating and $44 target at Janney Montgomery.
- CME Group (NYSE: CME) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $335 target at JMP Securities.
- M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) was initiated with a Neutral rating at SunTrust.
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