Analyst Upgrades: Microsoft (MSFT), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Panera Bread (PNRA), Sonoco (SON), Kellogg (K)

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) was reiterated a ‘Buy’ by UBS analysts on Monday. The broker also raised its price target on the stock to $60 from $56.

MSFT began trading this morning at $54.25 to currently trade 0.07% lower from the prior days close of $54.19. On an intraday basis it has gotten as low as $54.00 and as high as $54.46. Microsoft shares have advanced 13.59% in the last 4 weeks and 30.89% in the past three months. Over the past 5 trading sessions the stock has gained 3.25%.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant, which is currently valued at $432.59 billion, has a median Wall Street price target of $56 with a high target of $65.

Microsoft Corp. is up 14.30% year-over-year, compared with a 0.95% gain in the S&P 500.
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Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) are up $0.46 to $24.83 in midday trading after UBS reiterated its ‘Neutral’ rating and increased its 12-month base case estimate on the name by 4 points to $24 a share.

Currently there are 7 analysts that rate ANF a ‘Buy’, 6 analysts rate it a ‘Sell’, and 18 rate it a ‘Hold’.

On valuation measures, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. shares are currently priced at 78.03x this year’s forecasted earnings. Ticker has a t-12 price/sales ratio of 0.48. EPS for the same period registers at $0.32.

As for passive income investors, the firm pays stockholders $0.80 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.28%.
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Analysts at Maxim Group are out with a report this morning upgrading shares of Panera Bread Company (PNRA) with a ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ rating. The firm raised its price target for the company to $210 from $208.

In the past 52 weeks, shares of St. Louis, Missouri-based company have traded between a low of $153 and a high of $208 and are now at $178.53.

Shares are up 3.04% year-over-year ; down 1.21% year-to-date.
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Analysts at Macquarie upgraded their rating on the shares of Sonoco Products Co. (SON). In a research note published on Monday, the firm lifted the name with an ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ rating.
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Kellogg Company (K) was raised to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ and it was given a $76 from $72 price target at Credit Suisse (CS) on Monday.

Kellogg’s stock recently traded at $68.76, a gain of $2.50 over Friday’s closing price. The name has a current market capitalization of $24.37 billion.

As for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $2.00 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.02%. Five year average dividend yield currently stands at 3.02%.

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