Analyst Calls: ASX, BW, CBOE, COF, CREE, MDT, NDAQ, SCHW, TSM ...

Analyst Upgrades

CLSA upgraded Capital One (COF) to outperform from underperform based on valuation and an acceleration in loan growth. The firm raised its price target to $43 from $40.
KeyBanc upgraded Brush Engineered (BW) to buy from hold based on increased confidence in profit momentum in Specialty Engineered Alloys, valuation and value-added revenue unit growth. The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Heico (HEI) to buy from hold with a $42 target, citing the better-than-expected Q3 results.
Greenbrier (GBX) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
Paychex (PAYX) was upgraded to hold from sell at Deutsche Bank.
A. Schulman (SHLM) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

Analyst Downgrades

Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Taiwan Semi (TSM), United Microelectronic (UMC), Silicon Precision (SPIL) and Advanced Semiconductor (ASX) to hold from buy following semiconductor supply chain checks that indicate potential demand weakness and continued 2011 capacity increases.
UBS downgraded Medtronic (MDT) to neutral from buy, citing ongoing deceleration and has a $33 price target on the stock.
Credit Suisse cut China Life Insurance (LFC) to neutral from buy following weaker-than-expected results.
NASDAQ OMX (NDAQ) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) were downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley.
KongZhong (KONG) was downgraded to hold from buy at Roth Capital.

Analyst Initiations

Morgan Stanley initiated Cree (CREE) with an overweight rating and $75 price target.
Citigroup started Oxford Resources Partners (OXF) with a hold rating and $20 target.
BofA/Merrill initiated CBOE Holdings (CBOE) with a neutral rating and $26 target.
SMART Technologies (SMT) was initiated with a buy rating and $16.50 target at BofA/Merrill Fresenius
Medical (FMS) was initiated with a buy rating at RBS.
Zhongpin (HOGS) was initiated with a buy rating and $18 target at Maxim.