• RW Baird upgraded LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and expectations for raised 2009 guidance. The firm has a $36 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Swiss Reinsurance (OTC: SWCEY) to Buy from Hold following the CEO change as the firm views it as a positive move.
  
• Wachovia upgraded DuPont Fabros (NYSE: DFT) to Outperform from Market Perform because it thinks the company has taken major measures to mitigate its liquidity risk by obtaining additional debt. The firm also notes that the company signed several new leases.
• Goldman added Air Products (NYSE: APD) and Burger King (NYSE: BKC) to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• MSC Industrial (NYSE: MSM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.
  
• Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BKC, NOC, RTN, CMCSA ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BKC, NOC, RTN, CMCSA ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) to Market Weight from Underweight. Thomas Weisel said they are less negative on the outlook for memory industry dynamics but they do expect SanDisk shares to be range bound.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Buy from Hold as they believe Hershey is benefiting from increased advertising spending and the consumer trade-down to less expensive chocolate. The firm maintains a $39 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Buy from Holdas they believe the company will be a beneficiary from the Circuit City liquidation.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) were raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.

• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Hold from Buy as they believe the company's U.S. trends are decelerating and that FX trends will have a negative impact. The firm lowered their target price to $47 from $58.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to Hold from Buy following Eclipsys' (NASDAQ:ECLP) negative pre-announcement as they believe both companies are suffering from a downturn in hospital spending. Jefferies lowered their target on Cerner to $38 from $51.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Amdocs (DOX) to Perform from Outperform following the weak Q1 results citing lack of near-term catalysts and the macroeconomic slowdown.
• Eclipsys (NASDAQ:ECLP)was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  
• PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) was lowered to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

• Wunderlich initiated Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) with a Buy rating and $30 target and believes the company should enjoy sustainable pricing leverage following the merger with Waste Management.
  
• RBC Capital initiated Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) with an Underperform rating and $4 target based on Tysabri uncertainty, bapineuzumab clinical risk, MS competition, and debt overhang.
  
• Oppenheimer expects Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) to become an aggressive acquirer of financially distressed biotech companies with the completion of the acquisition of Pharmacopeia. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $5 target.
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at JP Morgan.
  
• Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) was reinitiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $14 target.
  
• Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was assumed with a Hold rating at Jesup & Lamont.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BBY, K, SNDK, H, ERIC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This was quite a week in biotechnology. You had a major premium buyout and had much data come out from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and others. This is far from all of the movers, but it is a brief summary of the major gainers from BioHealthInvestor.com showing how large some moves were in biotechnology this week.

Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) had a great week after it announced positive data from a second Phase III study of its Fampridine-SR for patients' walking abilities who suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS). FULL DETAILS

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUXL) was a strange stock this week. The company reported great news but shares slid before the market figured out it had misinterpreted news in the company. INITIAL DETAILS

Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISPH) saw a surge after it reached its primary endpoint in Phase III trial of Denufosol for Cystic Fibrosis. FULL DETAILS

Continue reading The week's top biotech gainers

The week's top biotech gainers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.