Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

Analyst upgrades:

• CLSA upgraded Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to Buy from Sell and has a price target of $85 based on expectations for improved copper prices. The analyst believes China is mostly done with tightening measures and that downside in copper prices is limited.
• Jefferies upgraded Concur Tech (CNQR) to Buy from Hold due to improvements in corporate travel and structural growth drivers from international and SMB. The firm has a price target of $55 on the stock.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded ESCO Technologies (ESE) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company will announce a contract with SoCal Gas within two months. The firm upped its target for shares to $35 from $33.
• Wells Fargo (WFC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
• Human Genome (HGSI) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• Brown & Brown (BRO) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

Analyst downgrades:

• Canaccord downgraded Netflix (NFLX) to Hold from Buy following the Q2 report and has a $107 price target on the stock. The firm is growing more cautious on ARPU pricing pressure, higher churn rates and higher SAC.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Airgas (ARG) to Hold from Buy following the company's Q1 results due to valuation. The firm has a $65 price target for shares. Note shares were also downgraded at Soleil this morning.
• Goldman downgraded Piper Jaffray (PJC) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its price target to $35 from $46. The firm said Piper's ROE remains below peers.
• AMB Property (AMB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill.
• Odyssey Healthcare (ODSY) was downgraded to Negative from Neutral at Susquehanna.
• Trina Solar (TSL) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Analyst initiations:

• BofA/Merrill started Cognizant Technology (CTSH) with a Neutral rating.
• Stifel Nicolaus initiated Brigham Exploration (BEXP) with a Buy rating and $24 target.
• ThinkEquity assumed Dick's Sporting (DKS) with a Buy rating.
• Petrohawk Energy (HK) was initiated with a Perform rating at Oppenheimer.
• E.ON AG (EONGY) was initiated with a Buy rating at RBS.
• Atlas Energy (ATLS) was initiated with an Outperform rating at BMO Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to outperform from market perform, citing strong flows and a potential recovery in the U.S. equity markets.
• UBS upgraded BorgWarner (BWA) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $50 from $48. The firm expects BorgWarner to benefit from fuel economy regulation.
• Cowen upgraded Celgene (CELG) to neutral from underperform, citing improved fundamentals and valuation for the upgrade.
• TRW Automotive (TRW) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Finish Line (FINL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Jazz Pharmaceutical (JAZZ) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded C.H. Robinson (CHRW) to outperform from neutral and has a $67 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares citing growth opportunities given the capacity constrained environment.
• UBS upgraded Navistar (NAV) to buy from neutral, citing improved trucker preferences towards the company's engine technology.
• KeyBanc upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from hold based on valuation stabilization and potential upside in aerospace, among other reasons. The firm has a $39 target on the stock.
• United Therapeutics (UTHR) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Equifax (EFX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.
• Brown & Brown (BRO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
  

Analyst Upgrades

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to buy from hold after channel checks indicated display advertising is seeing continued improvement in pricing and demand. The firm finds the risk/reward profile on Yahoo! shares attractive at current levels and raised its price target on the stock to $20 from $19.
• Citigroup upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to buy from hold following the company's investor meeting as it believes new product launches will serve as catalysts in 2010. Citi raised its target on shares to $101 from $72.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded BWAY Holding (BWY) to buy from hold following the company's Q4 results and raised its target on shares to $22 from $17.
• Clearwire (CLWR) was upgraded to buy from sell at Soleil.
• Nokia (NOK) was raised to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) was upgraded at JPMorgan to overweight from neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: GMX Resources, Glacier Bancorp and Brown and Brown were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies initiated GMX Resources (NASDAQ: GMXR) with a Buy rating and $40 target and believes the company's valuation discount to its NAV will narrow as management refocuses its efforts on its base Cotton Valley development program.
  
• Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ: GBCI) was assumed with a Neutral rating and $20 target at B. Riley, as they think bank multiples are unlikely to rise much further, given the ongoing problems in the housing market and continued deterioration in credit quality.
  
• Brown and Brown (NYSE: BRO) was initiated with a Buy rating and $23 at Suntrust. The firm believes softness in the insurance market is now reflected in valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Stephens assumed Online Resources (NASDAQ: ORCC) with an Overweight rating and $13 target.
  
• W.R. Berkley (NYSE: BER) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $34 target at Keefe Bruyette.
  
• Morgan Keegan initiated Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) with an Outperform rating.

Possis Medical (NASDAQ: POSS) is up almost 35% on a takeover from Bayer.

Hypercom (NYSEL: HYC) is up 43% on a potential buy-out from Ingenico.

NeuroMetrix (NASDAQ: NURO) is off almost 18% on poor earnings.

Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) is down over 13% on weak quarterly numbers

Shares may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.