MOST NOTEWORTHY: Popular (BPOP), MRU Holdings (UNCL), CDC Corp (CHINA) and Oscient Pharmaceuticals (OSCI) were today's noteworthy initiations:
- Kaufman initiated Popular (NASDAQ: BPOP) with a Hold rating and $13 target, citing the company's direct exposure to nearly $2B of Alt A residential mortgage loans originated by its U.S. operations and approximately $250M of exposure to another $4B of collateralized, securitized mortgage pools.
- MRU Holdings (NADSAQ: UNCL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $8.50 target at Roth Capital. Roth Capital believes MRU Holdings is on the threshold of potentially explosive growth in the fast growing segment of the education lending market, that of private loans.
- JMP Securities said CDC Corp. (NASDAQ: CHINA) , with its resources and connections in China, has excellent deal flow and has been a disciplined, value oriented buyer, and started shares with a Market Outperform and $10.50 target.
- Piper believes Oscient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSCI) experienced management team and PCP sales force are competitive advantages and will lead to attractive partners. Piper initiated Oscient Pharmaceuticals with an Outperform rating and $5 target...
OTHER INITIATIONS:
- Raymond James started SAIC (NYSE: SAI) with a Market Perform rating.
- Dice Holdings (NYSE: DHX) was initiated with an Overweight rating and $15 target at Morgan Stanley.
- RBC Capital initiated VMware (NYSE: VMW) with a Sector Perform rating and $75 target.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).
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MOST NOTEWORTHY: Genitope Corp, Discover Financial and Mine Safety Appliances were today's noteworthy downgrades:
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