Analyst Upgrades

• Barclays upgraded Visa (V) to overweight from equal weight following the Q1 report and guidance. The firm raised its target to $97 from $91.
• Merriman upgraded AOL (AOL) to neutral from sell on valuation and better trends in online advertising.
• Barrington upgraded Idex (IEX) to outperform from market perform following the results on expectations the company's 2010 sales and profits will recover. The firm set a $36 target on shares.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Rio Tinto (RTP) to neutral from underperform and BHP Billiton (BHP) to outperform from neutral.
• Posco (PKX) was raised to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• MetLife (MET) was upgraded at Keefe Bruyette to outperform from market perform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), Aetna Inc (AET), Hercules Inc (HPC) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies started UnitedHealth Group inc NYSE: UNH) with a Hold rating and $48 target and said near-term risk is still present due to unfavorable reserve adjustments to the company's commercial risk business and high expectations for improvement in the company's commercial medical care ratio.

• Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) was also initiated by Jefferies with a Hold rating based on valuation.

• Credit Suisse started Hercules Inc (NYSE: HPC) with an Outperform rating and $24 target.

• Matrix USA initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with a Hold rating on valuation...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Cowen is positive on MIPS Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: MIPS), starting the company with an Outperform rating, and expects a deal with Microchip Technology Inc (MCHP) to be announced soon.

• JP Morgan initiated shares of Headwaters Inc (NYSE: HW) with a Neutral rating.

• Needham assumed coverage of Harris Interactive Inc (NASDAQ: HPOL) with a Hold rating.

• ThinkEquity started Aruba Networks, Inc (NASDQ: ARUN) with an Accumulate rating and $15 target.

• Lazard initiated shares of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: CYCC) with a Buy rating and $11 target.

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