MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan assumed coverage of 5 machinery stocks: The firm assumed Eaton (NYSE: ETN) and Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) with Overweight ratings and Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR), Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) and Kennametal (NYSE: KMT) with Neutral ratings. JP Morgan's top picks in the group are Illinois Tool Works and Eaton.

• Pali initiated Sohu.com (NASDAQ: SOHU) with a Buy rating and $41 target and believes the Olympic Games represent the biggest growth catalyst for the company.

• Jefferies started shares of Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) with a Buy rating and $34 target, likes the momentum in TurboTax and QuickBooks and sees potential upside fo FY08 expectations.

• Banc of America initiated Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) with a Buy rating and $96 target and is positive on the company's European positioning given expectations for top line growth and margin expansion. The firm also started shares of Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) with a Buy rating and $35 target, positive on the company's strong management, solid competitive positioning and improving fundamentals.

• First Albany assumed coverage of Cougar Biotechnology (OTC: CGRB) with a Buy rating and $29 target.

• Oppenheimer started shares of Virginia Commerce (NASDAQ: VCBI) with a Neutral rating.

• Omega Financial (NASDAQ: OMEF) was initiated at Keefe Bruyette with a Market Perform rating and $25 target.

• Merrill Lynch initiated shares of Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD) with a Buy rating.

Analyst initiations: ETN, EXPE, INTU, PCLN and SOHU originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Tektronix (NYSE: TEK) to Overweight from Underweight citing improving sector fundamentals.

• JP Morgan also raised GameStop (NYSE: GME) to Overweight from Neutral based on the May sales data.

• Oppenheimer upgraded PrivateBancorp (NASDAQ: PVTB) to Neutral from Sell based on valuation.

• BMO Capital raised Quebecor World (NYSE: IQW) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.

• CheckFree (NASDAQ: CKFR) was assumed with a Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC citing a favorable risk/reward, solid secular underlying trends, and overblown concerns for its rating...

• Symantec Corp (NASDAQ: SYMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

• Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) was raised to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.

• ThinkEquity upgraded shares of Jones Soda Co (NASDAQ: JSDA) to Buy from Accumulate.

• BB&T upgraded Pacific Sunwear of California (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Buy from Hold.

• Goldman added Cigna Corp (NYSE: CI) to its America's Conviction List.

Analyst upgrades 6-18-07: CI, CKFR, JSDA, PSUN and SYMC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) and raised their target to $90 from $68 as the firm believes shares are fairly valued based on assumed higher spark spreads in New England.

• Syniverse Holdings (NYSE: SVR) was raised to Peer Perform from Underperform at Bear Stearns after its Q1 report.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and raised their target to $145 from $100 as the firm believes the company will benefit from smart phone market growth and improving international traction. However, FBCO still believes RIMM's increasing exposure to the consumer market will continue to pressure margins.

• Prudential said Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is showing signs of improving revenue growth and accelerating FiOS TV subscriber additions, as well as continued dominance in wireless, and upgraded shares to Neutral from Underweight.

• Matrix USA raised Comcast Corp's (NASDAQ: CMCSA) rating to Hold from Sell on valuation...

• Goldman upgraded Danaher Corp (NYSE: DHR) to Buy from Neutral with an $81 target.

• NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

• Bear Stearns raised Ingersoll-Rand's (NYSE: IR) rating to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Needham upgraded Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM) to Buy from Hold with a $28 target.

• Wachovia raised Innkeepers USA Trust (NYSE: KPA) rating to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades 5-01-07: CMCSA, D, RIMM and VZ originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 May 2007 10:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.