Below is a list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning with roughly 30 minutes until the market opens.
Analyst Upgrades:
- Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (NASDAQ:CPRX) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Merriman
- Oppenheimer raises its price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to $210 from $185
- CRH Plc. (NYSE:CRH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup
- Martin Marietta (NYSE:MLM) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup
- LifePoints Hospitals (NASDAQ:LPNT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Soleil ; price target set at $32.75
- Bronco Drilling (NASDAQ:BRNC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS
- Pioneer Drilling (NYSE:PDC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS
- First Cash (NASDAQ:FCFS) upgraded to Market Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities ; price target set at $23.50
- Mellanox (NASDAQ:MLNX) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- Force Protection (NASDAQ:FRPT) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Collins Stewart ; price target set at $7
- Patterson-UTI (NASDAQ:PTEN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS
- PMC Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- Basic Energy Services (NYSE:BAS) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS
- East West Banc (NASDAQ:EWBC) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette
- Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- Ultra Petroleum (NYSE:UPL) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse
- Southern Co (NYSE:SO) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies & Co
- FBR Capital raises Actuant (NYSE:ATU) price target to $19 from $16
- Con Edison (NYSE:ED) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies & Co
- Alcoa (NYSE:AA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Securities
- El Paso Electric (NYSE:EE) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies & Co
- Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $75 from $57
- Hospitality Props (NYSE:HPT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bryette
- First Niagara (NASDAQ:FNFG) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus ; price target set at $16
- DCT Industrial Trust (NYSE:DCT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bryette
- Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bryette
Analyst Downgrades:
- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) downgraded to Buy from Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs
- France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Citigroup
- Akamai Tech (NASDAQ:AKAM) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Merriman
- KB Home (NYSE:KBH) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
- NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- EnerNOC (NASDAQ:ENOC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott
- MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan
- Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE:FCS) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan
- Atlantic Tele-Network (NASDAQ:ATNI) downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James ; price target raised to $58
- Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) downgraded to Market Weight from Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Manpower (NYSE:MAN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup
- Credit Suisse lowers its price target on Iconix Brand (NASDAQ:ICON) to $13 from $20
- Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) downgraded to Buy from Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs
- RADVision (NASDAQ:RVSN) downgraded to Sell from Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald
- Saks (NYSE:SKS) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan
- Rockwood Holdings (NYSE:ROC) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Coverage Initiated:
- O’Reilly Auto (NASDAQ:ORLY) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Capital
- Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) initiated with a Buy and a $20 price target at Soleil
- Pride International (NYSE:PDE) initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein
- Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) initiated with a Hold and a $80 price target at Soleil
- Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein
- ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ONNN) initiated with a Buy at Goldman Sachs
- MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) initiated with a Hold and a $13 price target at Soleil
- CardioNet (NASDAQ:BEAT) initiated with a Market Perform at William Blair
- Smith International (NYSE:SII) initiated with an Outperform at Bernstein
- Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) initiated with a Hold and a $57 price target at Jefferies & Co
- AFLAC (NYSE:AFL) initiated with a Hold at Sandler O’Neill ; price target set at $46
- Enterprise Acquisition (NYSE:EST) initiated with a Buy and price target of $11 at Ladenburg Thalmann
- Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) initiated with a Market Outperform at JMP Securities
- Diana Shipping (NYSE:DSX) initiated with a Buy and $20 price target at Deutsche Securities
- NuVasive (NASDAQ:NUVA) initiated with a Market Outperform at JMP Securities
- Frontline (NYSE:FRO) initiated with a Sell and $15 price target at Deutsche Securities
- Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM) initiated with a Hold at BB&T Markets
- St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) initiated with a Market Outperform at JMP Securities
- WellCare Health Plans (NYSE:WCG) initiated with a Buy and a $48 price target at Collins Stewart
- Navios Partners (NYSE:NVM) initiated with a Buy and a $15 price target at Deutsche Securities
- Stryker (NYSE:SYK) initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities
- Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) initiated with a Hold at BB&T Markets
- Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) initiated with a Sell and $3 price target at Deutsche Securities
- Wright Medical (NASDAQ:WMGI) initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities
- Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities
- Genco Shipping (NYSE:GNK) initiated with a Hold and $23 price target at Deutsche Securities
- Acorn (NYSE:ATV) initiated with a Buy at Roth Capital ; price target set at $8
- Zimmer Hldgs (NYSE:ZMH) initiated with a Market Perform at JMP Securities
- Advance Auto (NYSE:AAP) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- MYR Group (NASDAQ:MYRG) initiated with a Buy and a $30 price target at Maxim Group
- Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) initiated with a Perform at Oppenheimer
- Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) initiated with an Outperform and a $35 price target at Oppenheimer
- IHS (NYSE:IHS) initiated with an Outperform and a $63 price target at Oppenheimer
