Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) to Outperform from Market Perform due to valuation and the company's capital position. The firm has an $8 target price on the stock.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded its view of the semiconductor sector and upgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Buy from Neutral, LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) to Buy from Underperform, and Maxim (NASDAQ: MXIM) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) to Neutral from Underperform. The firm now sees 2010 revenue growth of 21% vs. its prior estimate of 14% due to improving electric demand and lean inventories.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Vital Images (NASDAQ: VTAL) to Overweight from Market Weight based on compelling valuation and potential upside from its new ViTAL Enterprise product offering.
• Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Nationwide Health (NYSE: NHP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Universal Electronics, BioMed Realty Trust and Allied Healthcare were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Universal Electronics (NASDAQ: UEIC) to Hold from Buy following the company's disappointing guidance.
  
• Baird downgraded shares of BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered their target to $26 as they believe shares are fairly valued.
  
• Allied Healthcare (NASDAQ: AHCI) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings following the lower-than-expected Q1 results.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Vital Images (NASDAQ: VTAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.