MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• B. Riley believes Pericom (NASDAQ: PSEM) is in the early stages of a product cycle-driven growth and feels shares are significantly undervalued at current levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $18 target.
  
• Rodman & Renshaw started St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) with a Market Outperform rating and $50 target. The firm is positive on St. Jude's recent investments in its CRM product portfolio and sales organization, which should increase competitiveness and facilitates continued market share gains.
  
• CDC Corp (NASDAQ: CHINA) was initiated at Cantor with a Buy rating and $6 target, as they believe the stock is significantly undervalued due to the complexity of the company's corporate structure and poor financial disclosure. The firm believes this gap will close after the company lists at least one of its subsidiaries this year.

• Kevin Dann initiated Orion Marine Group (NASDAQ: OMGI) with a Buy rating and $18 target.
  
• JP Morgan initiated Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Credit Suisse started Perrigo Company (NASDAQ: PRGO) with a Neutral rating and $40 target.

Analyst initiations: PSEM, STJ and CHINA originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• RBC Capital is positive on News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) strategy of investing cash flow away from mature enterprises to fund high-growth initiatives such as Sky Italia and Fox Interactive Media. The firm initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $26 target.
  
• Kaufman Brothers rates Limelight Networks Inc (NASDAQ: LLNW) a Sell based on a significant increase in the competitive environment with Akamai discounting on large deals, Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) introducing a competitive offering in November 2007, Korean major-CD Networks becoming aggressive, and new entrants becoming aggressive with their value propositions.
  
• Deutsche Bank initiated Corning Inc (NYSE: GLW) with a Buy rating and $31 target as they believe shares are fundamentally undervalued given the company's strong fundamentals and promising outlook.
  
• Carmike Cinemas Inc (NASDAQ: CKEC) was started at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating. The firm said the company is the most exposed to 3-D, which could lead to potential upside due to low margins and leverage capital structure.

• UBS started shares of St. Jude Medical Inc (NYSE: STJ) with a Sell rating and $43 target and shares of Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) with a Buy rating and $64 target.
  
• Bear Stearns initiated shares of TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX) and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) with Peer Perform ratings.
  
• KeyBanc initiated shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) with a Hold rating.
  
• Caris started shares of Acme Packet Inc (NASDAQ: APKT) with an Above Average rating and $17 target.

Analyst inititations: NWS, LLNW, GLW and CKEC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Thomas Wiesel initiated coverage of the Medical Devices Industry:
• Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) was initiated with an Underweight rating, expecting shares to Underperform peers due to reductions in estimates, risks to the stent business and valuation.
  
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was initiated with an Overweight rating, saying attractively valued as they believe the growth in underlying markets may be more robust than the current sentiment suggests.
  
• St. Jude Medical (NYSE: SJT) was initiated with an Overweight rating, saying shares offer exposure to attractive drivers, a management team with the best track record in the segment, and a potential acquisition candidate.
  

• Stephens believes the recent weakness in Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) due to "turmoil" in the market has created an attractive entry point, starting shares with an Overweight rating.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of AXA (NYSE: AXA) with an Overweight rating, citing an attractive risk/reward and strong free cash flow...

• S1 Corp (NASDAQ: SONE) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Avondale.

• Needham started Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) with a Buy rating.

• Credit Suisse initiated AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) with a Neutral rating.

• Jefferies started Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX) with a Hold rating.

Analyst initiations: AXA, BSCI, BSX, and MDT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $65 target to reflect valuation, improved fundamentals and hidden value in real estate.
• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was added to American Technology's Focus List with a $145 target.
• Cowen upgraded shares of DirecTV Group, Inc (NYSE: DTV) and EchoStar Communications (NASDAQ: DISH) to Neutral from Underperform citing potential cash flow growth and re-capitalization opportunities that will offset competitive risks in the near-term.

• Con-Way Inc (NYSE: CNW) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens citing a tonnage rebound at the company.
• Bear Stearns transferred coverage and raised its rating of Netease.com, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) to Outperform from Peer Perform citing valuation.
• Bernstein upgraded its Cardiac Rhythm Management group, which contained Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX), Medtronic, Inc (NYSE: MDT) and St. Jude Medical, Inc (NYSE: STJ), to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm cited anticipated recovery of the ICD market and easier comps for 2007 and expects the U.S. ICD market to have 10% growth compared to last year's negative growth.
• JP Morgan upgraded Borland Software Corp (NASDAQ: BORL) to Overweight from Underweight, as the firm expects the company to achieve margin targets and named Borland its turnaround pick for 2007.

Analyst upgrades 4-17-07: AAPL, BSX, CNW and COST upgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.