Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Franklin Resources (BEN) to outperform from market perform and raised its target price for shares to $127 from $105 to reflect its belief the company is well positioned in the current environment.
• UBS upgraded Nuance (NUAN) to buy from neutral and has an $18 price target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company could be an acquisition target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded DryShips (DRYS) to equal weight from underweight and has a $5.50 target on the stock. The firm cites the firmer ultra-deepwater drilling market for the upgrade.
• Becton Dickinson (BDX) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• Arkansas Best (ABFS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wunderlich upgraded Inergy (NRGY) to buy from hold on valuation after the stock sold off following the proposed merger with Inergy Holdings (NRGP). The firm raised its target for shares to $46 from $40.
• Soleil upgraded Applied Industrial (AIT) to buy from gradually accumulate following the company's better-than-expected Q4 results and raised its target for shares to $42 from $36.
• Citigroup upgraded Starwood Property (STWD) to buy from hold with a $21 price target, citing a pick-up in CRE loan sales.
• Family Dollar (FDO) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• Yucheng Technologies (YTEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.

When your information technology needs extend beyond off-the-shelf software, it's usually best to go with an experienced consultant. There is an Austin, Texas outfit that's well thought of that way. It works for some of the biggest corporations in America.

Perficient, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRFT) is an information technology consulting firm, with clients throughout the United States. Company services include software development, systems integration, consulting and support. Its specializes in solutions involving portals and collaboration, eCommerce, online customer relationship management, enterprise content management, business integration, mobile technology solutions and service-oriented architectures. Clients include Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it raised its Q4 services and software revenue guidance from $56.3-$62.1 million to $61.2-62.7 million. Analysts had been expecting $59.97 million. The CEO noted that the strong revenues were bolstered by a reacceleration of organic growth. Northland Securities subsequently reiterated its "outperform" rating on the stock and declared a $25 price target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Illinois Tool Works, Perficient and GATX were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $59 target at Banc of America, as they believe the challenging macro environment and tougher international comparisons will impact near-term base revenue growth and margin opportunities.
  
• JMP Securities believes shares of Perficient Inc. (NASDAQ: PRFT) have overreacted to weak 2007 organic growth and expects shares to be driven by an acceleration in growth in combination with accretive acquisitions. The firm initiated Perficient with a Market Outperform rating and $20 target.
  
• GATX Corp. (NYSE: GMT) was initiated with a Neutral rating at SunTrust on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Credit Suisse initiated Bank of America with a Neutral rating and $48 target and Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) with an Underperform rating and $35 target.
  
• Goldman initiated Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Morgan Stanley started WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) with an Equal Weight rating.

When your information technology needs to extend beyond off-the-shelf software, it's usually best to go with an experienced consultant. There is an Austin, Texas outfit that's well thought of that way. It works for some of the biggest corporations in America.

Perficient (NASDAQ: PRFT) is an information technology consulting firm, with clients throughout the United States. Company services include software development, systems integration, consulting and support. It specializes in solutions involving portals and collaboration, eCommerce, online customer relationship management, enterprise content management, business integration, mobile technology solutions and service-oriented architectures. Customers include Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), EMC (NYSE: EMC), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX), Wachovia (NYSE: WB) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors earlier in the week, when it raised its Q2 revenue guidance from $48.5-$51.2 million to $51.8-$53.0 million. Analysts had been expecting $51.0 million. The CEO said, "The second quarter was another record for Perficient. We are beginning to see the benefits of operating leverage and scale on our bottom line." The share price popped on the news and has since been consolidating the gain in a bullish "pennant" pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with two "strong buys," one "buy" and two "holds." Analysts see a 25% average annual growth rate, through the next five years. The PRFT Sales Growth rate (68.92%), EPS Growth rate (128.57%) and Return on Assets (9.94%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions own about 63% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $12.50 and $23.29. A stop-loss of $19 looks good here. Note that the firm is next expected to report quarterly results in early August.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.