Analyst Upgrades

• Siemens (SI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Diamond Offshore (DO) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• MeadWestvaco (MWV) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• TD AmeriTrade (AMTD) and Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Janus Capital (JNS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Motorola Mobility (MMI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Frontier Communications (FTR) to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Humana (HUM) to buy from hold at Argus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) to buy from hold based on valuation. The firm keeps a $39 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Kenexa (KNXA) to overweight from neutral, citing a strengthening of trends for the company. The firm has a $29 price target on the stock.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Gaylord Entertainment (GET) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from strong trends in 2011. The firm raised its target for shares to $35 from $32.50.
• MeadWestvaco (MWV) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• EADS (EADSY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Republic Services (RSG) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $34 from $32. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded MeadWestvaco (MWV) to buy from hold due to valuation and keeps a $29 price target for shares.
• UBS upgraded Symantec (SYMC) to buy from neutral.
• Lloyds Banking (LYG) upgraded to add from neutral at WestLB.
• Ternium (TX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc (JBHT), QLogic Corp (QLGC), General Motors (GM), Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (BGFV) and Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:

• Wachovia downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Market Perform from Outperform citing a more tempered outlook for the U.S. Intermodal market.

• QLogic Corp's (NASDAQ: QLGC) downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings was based on weaker then planned HBA and switch revenue and low gross margins on new Infiniband products that spiked up in the mix.

• Buckingham cut General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Underperform from Neutral.

• Oppenheimer downgraded Big 5 Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) to Neutral from Buy believing current trends suggest a lagging west coast customer.

• RBC Capital Markets cut Biogen Idec Inc (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Sector Perform from Outperform citing mixed feedback at AAN that indicates longer-term safety data will be needed to drive adoption of Tysabri and lingering long-term concerns over Rituxan royalties and profit share.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Goldman downgraded Steelcase Inc (NYSE: SCS) to sell from Neutral.

• MeadWestvaco Corp (NYSE: MWV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Prudential.

• Jefferies cut Ista Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ISTA) to Underperform from Hold.

• Lazard downgraded Talbots, Inc (NYSE: TLB) to Hold from Buy.

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