Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AAPL, COST, HPQ, JACK, MOS, NVLS, WMT ...

Posted Sep 21st 2009 12:00PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Wal-Mart (WMT), Costco Wholesale (COST), Analyst Initiations

Analyst upgrades:

Roth Capital upgraded MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $90 from $70, citing encouraging Q2 results, new product cycle catalysts, a lift from Europe, and cost reductions.
William Blair upgraded Costco (NASDAQ: COST) to Outperform from Market Perform after meeting with management as it believes sales and earnings could beat expectations over the next year.
Credit Suisse upgraded Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $29 from $23. The firm cites higher Samsung capex forecast, high leverage, and low expectations.
Home Properties (NYSE: HME) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBC Capital, while Douglas Emmett (NYSE: DEI) and Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) were raised to Market Perform from Underperform.
Agilent (NYSE: A) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Analyst downgrades:

Kaufman Bros. downgraded American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) to Hold from Buy on valuation and a lack of backlog growth. The firm keeps a $36 price target on shares.
Soleil downgraded Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) to Hold from Buy on valuation after Potash (NYSE: POT) lowered its earnings guidance. The firm lowered its target on shares to $56 from $65.
RBC downgraded Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK) to Sector Perform from Outperform as it sees heightened earnings risk due to slowing same-store sales. The firm lowered its target on shares to $25 from $28.
Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) and BioMed Realty (NYSE: BMR) were cut to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital, while AMB Property (NYSE: AMB) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at FTN Equity.

Analyst initiations:

Jefferies initiated Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) with a Buy rating and $100 target. The firm believes concerns surrounding Alliant's NASA business are overstated and the company's core programs should generate above-average cash flow for redeployment.
Citigroup believes MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) has a unique competitive position within hospitals and a compelling valuation. Shares were started with a Buy rating and $28 target.
RBC Capital initiated OncoGenex (NASDAQ: OGXI) with an Outperform rating and $65 target. The firm believes the company will sign a partnership agreement for OGX-011 within the next year that will be a catalyst for the stock.
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at JMP Securities.
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was initiated with an Overweight rating and $61 target at HSBC.
Cumberland Pharma (NASDAQ: CPIX) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Wells Fargo.

Tags: AAPL, Agilent, AMB, AMSC, analyst upgrades, Apple, ATK, BMR, BXP, COST, Costco, CPIX, CYT, DEI, downgrades, DRE, EQR, Hewlett-Packard, HME, HP, initiations, JACK, MDAS, MOS, MSTR, NVLS, OGXI, PHQ, POT, Wal-Mart, WMT

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-21-2009 @ 12:21PM

Vittal said...

How is it that you forgot to include an upgrade for AAPL at JPM with a price target of $214 ???

9-21-2009 @ 12:21PM

Beltway Greg said...

Microstrategy upgraded on cost reductions? Explanation:
CEO Michael Saylor has decided against purchasing the G5 and has instead opted to rough it in a Lear. Way to lead by example big guy. But stay tuned, things could change.