Analyst Upgrades

• Marriott (MAR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) and Owens-Illinois (OI) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• FirstMerit (FMER) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Safeway (SWY) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Babcock & Wilcox (BWC) to buy from neutral, as well as Jacobs Engineering (JEC) and W. R. Berkley (WRB) to neutral from sell, at Goldman.
• Pioneer Natural (PXD) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Teekay Tankers (TNK) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Today was a mixed market with many movers around in both directions despite the closing bells on the indexes. The non-Farm Payrolls growth was only right before the ADP data and that more robust prediction artificially skewed expectations. The stock market was down less than 1% after the morning lows before recovering off lows in the afternoon. Crude oil sold off and gold was lower before trying a late-day comeback.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,674.76 -22.55 (-0.19%)
S&P 500 1,271.50 -2.35 (-0.18%)
Nasdaq 2,703.17 -6.72 (-0.25%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Analyst Upgrades

• Sapient (SAPE) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Kroger (KR) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Harman (HAR) to overweight from neutral and Deutsche Bank (DB) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Savient (SVNT) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• LabCorp (LH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) and Landstar System (LSTR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Essex Property Trust (ESS) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Tyson Foods (TSN) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• SPX Corp. (SPW) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Community Health (CYH) to buy from hold based on expectations for improved 2011 demand. The firm has a $40 price target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Invesco Mortgage (IVR) to buy from hold following the company's better-than-expected Q3 dividend. The firm also raised its target price for shares to $23.50 from $21.50.
• Goldman upgraded SuccessFactors (SFSF) to conviction buy from buy, citing cloud exposure.
• Vulcan Materials (VMC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Comstock Resources (CRK) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Ladenburg.
• Trimble Navigation (TRMB) was upgraded to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Smurfit-Stone (SSCC) to buy from hold after raising its estimates for containerboard names and upped its target for shares to $28 from $22. The firm also raised its price target for International Paper (IP) to $38 from $32, for Packaging Corp. (PKG) to $33 from $28, for Temple-Inland (TIN) to $31 from $28, for Greif (GEF) to $67 from $65, and for Rock-Tenn (RKT) to $70 from $65. All stocks are buy rated.
• ThinkEquity upgraded VMware (VMW) to buy from hold and has a $90 price target on the stock. The firm expects VMware to benefit from increased virtual infrastructure adoption and improving vSphere solutions.
• Needham upgraded Cavium Networks (CAVM) to strong buy from buy, citing the recent pullback in shares following Cisco's (CSCO) cautious commentary. The firm has a $37 target on the stock.
• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MedAssets (MDAS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Brookfield Properties (BPO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Analyst Upgrades

• Morgan Joseph upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from hold ahead of Tuesday's Q3 report. The firm, which has a $100 price target on the stock, expects LED demand to drive revenue growth as both China and the U.S. are increasingly strong.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from the migration of software to SaaS deployments. The firm upped its target price for shares to $94 from $67.
• Barrington upgraded Henry Schein (HSIC) to outperform from market perform, citing an attractive valuation, increased confidence in the outcome of the Butler-Schein Animal Health integration and improving momentum in dental equipment. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Red Hat (RHT) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Southern Copper (SCCO) to buy from hold to reflect valuation and positive near-term catalysts. The firm raised its target for shares to $38 from $35.
• JMP Securities upgraded Ultimate Software (ULTI) to outperform from market perform. The firm cites the company's expanding employee base for the upgrade. The firm has a $40 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Aeropostale (ARO) to neutral from underweight following the company's Q4 results and raised its target for shares to $31 from $24.
• Kennametal (KMT) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Lifetime Brands (LCUT) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Barrington.
• Volvo (VOLVY) was upgraded to overweight from underweight at JPMorgan.

Qualcomm (QCOM) rallied 6.7% to $37.93 after approving a 12% increase in its quarterly dividend and authorizes a new $3 billion share buyback program. March put option implied volatility is at 32, April puts are at 31; near its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Dendreon (DNDN) closed at $33.26. Dendreon's provenge (a drug that prolongs the lives of advanced prostate-cancer patients) has a PDUFA on May 1, 2010, by which time it will respond to Dendreon's amended Biologics License Application (BLA). March put option implied is at 74, May puts are at 92; verses its 26-week average of 76, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement this spring.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Viacom (VIA) to buy from hold due to valuation and expectations that share buybacks will resume this year. The firm raised its price target on shares to $37 from $28.
• Canadian Natural (CNQ) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and the outlook for heavy crude.
• UBS upgraded Key Energy (KEG) to buy from neutral, citing increased E&P well spending, a possible shorter term rally in gas activity and improved utilization. Target raised to $12.50 from $9.50.
• Shire (SHPGY) was raised to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• PNC Financial (PNC) was upgraded at Bernstein to outperform from market perform.
• Pacer International (PACR) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Hubbell (HUB.B) to outperform from perform to reflect the company's improving operations, margin expansion and valuation. The firm raised its target price on shares to $53 from $51.
• UBS upgraded Weingarten Realty (WRI) and Taubman Centers (TCO), Boston Properties (BXP), ProLogis (PLD) and AMB Property (AMB) to neutral from sell and SL Green Realty (SLG) to buy from neutral, citing the recent correction in the group.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold on expectations the company is positioned for steady, sustainable growth as advertising demand rebounds. The firm has a $35 price target on shares.
• Eastman Chemical (EMN) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Constellation Energy (CEG) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Noble Corporation (NE) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse views Bank of America (BAC) as the "cheapest" large-cap bank and said the recent TARP repayment removes a significant overhang. The firm upgraded shares to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $21 from $17.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) to neutral from underweight following the company's better-than-expected Q3 results. The firm has a $43 price target on the stock.
• Caris upgraded Zumiez (ZUMZ) to above average from average following the company's better-than-expected December sales report. The firm raised its target on shares to $17 from $14.
• Humana (HUM) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Zimmer (ZMH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Applied Industrial (AIT) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.