MOST NOTEWORTHY: Select pharmaceutical companies, timber companies and Kona Grill Inc (NASDAQ: KONA) and were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Medarex Inc (NASDAQ: MEDX) was initiated with a Positive rating at Susquehanna. The firm said Medarex has multiple drivers include a potential buyout by one of its existing partners, as well as clinical progress and the success of its technology platform in monoclonal antibody therapeutics.
• Susquehanna also initiated shares of Dyax Corporation (NASDAQ: DYAX), Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MLNM), and Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMEX: IDP) with Neutral ratings and Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX) and Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc (NASDAQ: COLY) with Positive ratings.
• Rayonier Inc (NYSE: RYN), Plum Creek Timber Company Inc (NYSE: PCL) and Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) were initiated with Buy ratings at Merrill Lynch.
• Kona Grill was initiated with an Outperform rating at Cowen. The firm believes Kona can grow its asset base 10-fold at strong store-level cash-on-cash ROICs.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Jefferies initiated shares of Input/Output Inc (NYSE: IO) with a Buy rating and $19 target.
• Goldman Sachs initiated shares of Minerals Technologies Inc (NYSE: MTX) with a Buy rating and $80 target.
• JP Morgan initiated shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: OREX) with an Overweight rating and is positive on the company's obesity pipeline.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Seagate (STX) and Alberto-Culver (ACV) topped today's initiation list.

• RBC Capital Markets started Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) with a Sector Perform, noting that moderate desktop and notebook trends, along with the ongoing Maxtor integration, have impacted recent performance.
• Prudential initiated Alberto-Culver Company (NYSE:ACV) with a Neutral rating and $22 target, citing valuation and cost challenges.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Kona Grill Inc. (NASDAQ:KONA) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Ryan Beck; The firm said Kona's emerging restaurant concept is in its infancy in terms of growth with strong productivity and unit-level economics.
• First Albany initiated Claire's Stores Inc. (NYSE:CLE) with a Neutral rating, citing expectations of gross margin pressure from additional lower margin accessory sales.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).