Analyst Ratings on Stocks

 Security News Highlights

09/30/2114

September did little to change its reputation as the worst-performing month of the year for the U.S. stock market. After a run to a new record high on Sept. 18, stocks have been going down and finished the month in the red.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 1.6% in September, dropping from 2003.37 to 1972.29.  Here is a chart of the S&P 500 through last night’s close.

The market spent Tuesday wavering between minor gains and losses, but there were big moves beneath the surface. Crude oil prices plunged, dragging down Chevron and other oil and gas companies. Ford Motor fell after cutting its profit forecast, while eBay jumped after announcing plans to spin off PayPal.

Trading has turned choppy over recent weeks. Lingering concerns over conflicts around the world, corporate profits and the strength of the global economy have all played a role, said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners. Investors are also wary of the fact that some of the market’s worst swoons have happened in the months of September and October.

Adam Parker’s job at Morgan Stanley is to make the firm’s forecasts for the S&P 500 index.  Parker sees the benchmark index making its way to 3,000 in the next five years, from a recent 1,970.

Today’s Stock movers

Move, Inc. (Nasdaq: MOVE) 36.9% HIGHER;   News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) will acquire Move, Inc. for $21/share in cash.

dELIA*s, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLIA) 29% HIGHER; today announced that the Company has received several inquiries from third parties regarding a potential acquisition of the Company. In response, the Companys Board of Directors has determined it appropriate to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value, including a possible sale, merger, or other form of business combination. As part of this process, the Company may also consider debt or equity financing alternatives. The Company has retained Janney Montgomery Scott LLC as its financial advisor, and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP as its legal advisor.

Vimicro Int’l (NASDAQ: VIMC) 16.4% HIGHER; announced that its joint venture, Shanxi Zhongtianxin Science and Technology Co. Ltd. (“Zhongtianxin”), has won a contract to provide SVAC-compliant video surveillance cameras and system to the Traffic Police Detachment of Taiyuan for RMB76 million, or USD12.4 million approximately. The project is expected to be completed by early 2015

TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) 14.7% LOWER; second quarter results.ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNET) 14% HIGHER; announced today that Liansuo signed a number of new clients, including Sesame St. English, after participating in the 29th Guangzhou Franchise Exhibition. The event was held in Guangzhou from September 19-21

Teekay Corporation (NYSE: TK) 13.9% HIGHER; to raise diviend by 75-80%

Catyalyst Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: CPRX) 12.7% HIGHER; announced positive top-line results from the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of Firdapse (amifampridine phosphate tablets equivalent to 10 mg amifampridine) for the symptomatic treatment of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Both co-primary endpoints, quantitative myasthenia gravis score (QMG) and subject global impression (SGI), demonstrated that Firdapse was significantly superior to placebo, as did a secondary endpoint for the physician’s clinical global impression of improvement (CGI-I).

Nxt-ID, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTD) 9.6% HIGHER; Northland Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a price target of $6.00. Analyst Michael Latimore forecasts a $2 billion market opportunity for its Smart Wocket.

DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ: DWA) 9.3% LOWER; Talks between Softbanks and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ: DWA) have cooled, said WSJ, citing sources. The report went on to say there is a possibility talks could restart, and a deal other than an outright takeover is possible.

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) 8.2% HIGHER; said its Board of Directors, following a strategic review of the companys growth strategies and structure, has approved a plan to separate the companys eBay and PayPal businesses into independent publicly traded companies in 2015, subject to customary conditions. Creating two standalone businesses best positions eBay and PayPal to capitalize on their respective growth opportunities in the rapidly changing global commerce and payments landscape, and is the best path for creating sustainable shareholder value, the company said.

After a 12-year relationship, eBay (EBAY) has decided to spin off payment processor, PayPal.  Almost half of eBay’s revenue will disappear once PayPal becomes its own publicly traded company in the middle of 2015.  Hedge fund activist Carl Icahn has been fighting for this for about nine months, saying the separation will create value for investors. Icahn’s stance is that separately both companies can focus purely on and highlight their own simplified businesses.   With Apple Pay, Google Wallet and other digital wallets popping up, PayPal needs to remain nimble and innovative. Currently, PayPal has 52 million active registered accounts and processes 9.3 million payments every day.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMAG) 7.6% HIGHER; FBR Capital upgraded from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $36.00 (from $21.00) following the announcement of the company’s acquisition of Makena, an injectable progesterone hormone designed to prevent pre-term deliveries in high-risk patients.

Ballard Power (NASDAQ: BLDP) 6.9% HIGHER; announced that it has received an order from Precision Power & Air (PP&A) the Company’s Caribbean distributor for 13 ElectraGen-ME fuel cell backup power systems to be deployed in the Digicel Group Limited (Digicel) network in Jamaica. This is the second tranche of Ballard methanol-fuelled systems ordered for Digicel, which will bring the total systems deployed at critical sites around the Caribbean island of Jamaica to 25. The initial fuel cell systems ordered have been successfully operating in Digicel’s network for more than two years.Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(NASDAQ: PGNX) 6.7% HIGHER;   Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP) and Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX) today announced that the Food and Drug Administration has approved RELISTOR (methylnaltrexone bromide) Subcutaneous Injection, 12 mg/0.6ml, for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients taking opioids for chronic non-cancer pain.

RELISTOR subcutaneous injection is currently the only available peripherally acting mu opioid receptor antagonist (PAMORA) that is approved for treating OIC at the cause without interfering with the centrally acting analgesic properties of the opioid.

SYNNEX Corp. (NYSE: SNX) 6.6% HIGHER; reported Q3 EPS of $1.59, $0.11 better than the analyst estimate of $1.48. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.54 billion versus the consensus estimate of $3.4 billion. SYNNEX Corp. sees Q4 2014 EPS of $1.66-$1.71, versus the consensus of $1.68. SYNNEX Corp. sees Q4 2014 revenue of $3.65-3.75 billion, versus the consensus of $3.67 billion.Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) 6% HIGHER; BofA/Merrill Lynch upgraded from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $30.00 (from $21.00) on a better aluminum outlook.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS) 5.8% HIGHER; to spin-off of 100 percent of Masco’s Installation and Other Services businesses (“Services Business”) into an independent, publicly-traded company through a tax-free stock distribution to Masco’s shareholders; the implementation of a share repurchase program for an aggregate of 50 million shares of Masco’s common stock; the reduction of corporate expense and simplification of Masco’s organizational structure, resulting in an estimated charge of approximately $30 million over the next several quarters with anticipated company-wide annual savings of $35-40 million

Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX) 5.5% HIGHER; Piper Jaffray upgraded from Neutral to Overweight with a price target of $50.00 (from $40.00).

Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN) 4.5% LOWER; BofA/Merrill Lynch downgraded from Neutral to Underperform with a price target of $34.00 (from $40.00) on frontline expectations.

GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) 3% HIGHER; continued upside momentum after HERO4 unveiling

Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) 2.8% HIGHER; reported Q4 EPS of $0.74, in-line with the analyst estimate of $0.74. Revenue for the quarter came in at $19.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $19.03 billion. Total sales in comparable stores increase 5.4 percent.

SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU) 1.8% LOWER; announced, on August 14, 2014, that it had experienced a criminal intrusion into the portion of its computer network that processes payment card transactions at some of its retail food stores, including some of its associated stand-alone liquor stores (but not including its Save-A-Lot stores). The Company further announced at that time that, by means of the criminal intrusion, some types of cardholder data may have been stolen from payment cards used at the stores in question during a period that began no earlier than June 22, 2014 and ended no later than July 17, 2014. While the investigation of that incident remains ongoing, the Company still has not determined that any of such cardholder data was in fact stolen by the intruder during that incident.

Kellogg (NYSE: K) 1.8% LOWER; Morgan Stanley downgraded from Equalweight to Underweight with a price target of $58.00.

ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH) 1.8% LOWER; Bernstein downgraded from Market Perform to Underperform saying royalty likely to continue to miss in H2 and 2015.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) 1.6% HIGHER ; BofA/Merrill Lynch upgraded from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $18.00 (from $16.00) saying a cash flow recovery is looming.

Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) 1.6% HIGHER; Raymond James upgraded from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $75.00. LBO reports yesterday.

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) 1.5% LOWER; announced the commencement of the offering of US$100 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2019 (the Notes) (the Notes Offering). Trina Solar has granted to the underwriters in the Notes Offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$15 million in aggregate principal amount of the Notes. The Company also commenced a concurrent offering of approximately 7,000,000 American Depositary Shares (ADSs).

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) 0.9% LOWER; continues mid-day slide after saying it won’t achieve 2014 profit goals, sees pre-tax profit of $6 billion.Tiffany & Co.

(NYSE: TIF) 0.7% HIGHER; In a 13G filing Stephen F. Mandel’s hedge fund Lone Pine Capital disclosed a 5.32%, or 6,852,021 share, stake in the company. This is up 61.65% from the 4,238,872 shares held at the end of the latest quarter ending June 30, 2014.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. (AA_) are rising by 1.69% to $16.20 in pre-market trading on Tuesday, following a ratings upgrade to “buy” from “neutral” at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Analyst Ratings on Stocks

• Ford Motor : Barclays, JP Morgan, others cut target price on the stock
• NiSource Inc : Credit Suisse raises to outperform from neutral
• Royal Dutch Shell : Bernstein raises to outperform from market-perform
• Lockheed Martin Corp : Stifel raises to buy from hold rating
• Athlon Energy : Canaccord Genuity, Mizuho, RBC cut rating on the stock
• Accenture : CLSA starts with outperform; price target $90

Following is a summary of research actions on U.S. companies reported by Reuters on Tuesday.

Stock entries are in alphabetical order

• Accenture : CLSA starts with outperform; price target $90
• Actavis Plc : JP Morgan raises price target to $310 from $300; rating overweight
• Addus Homecare Corp : Oppenheimer raises to outperform from perform
• ADP : JP Morgan cuts price target to $75 from $94; rating neutral
• Advance Auto Parts : William Blair starts with outperform – Streetinsider.com
• Alcatel Lucent : Goldman Sachs cuts price target to $4.1 from $4.4
• Alcoa : BofA Merrill raises to buy – Theflyonthewall.com
• Allergan Inc : JP Morgan raises price target to $210 from $200; rating overweight
• Alliance Data Systems : Evercore raises target price to $332 from $327
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc : Baird raises target to $45 from $28; rating outperform
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc : FBR raises to outperform – Benzinga.com
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc : Jefferies raises to buy from hold
• Angie’s List Inc : Cowen starts with market perform
• Angie’s List Inc : Cowen starts with price target $7
• AOL Inc : Nomura raises target price to $48 from $43; rating neutral
• Apple : Jefferies starts with hold; price target $110
• Apple : Evercore raises price target to $125 from $115; rating overweight
• Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc : FBR raises to outperform from market perform
• Athlon Energy : Canaccord Genuity cuts to hold from buy
• Athlon Energy : Mizuho cuts to neutral from buy; raises target to $58.50 from $56
• Athlon Energy : RBC cuts to sector perform – Benzinga.com
• Athlon Energy : Global Hunter Securities cuts to neutral;target to $58.50 from $66
• Avago Technologies Ltd : Nomura raises target price to $95; rating buy
• Avon Products Inc : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $14 from $15
• Autozone Inc : William Blair starts with market perform rating
• Blackhawk Network : Susquehanna raises target price to $28 from $24
• Boston Scientific Corp : Needham starts with hold rating
• Calumet Specialty Products : Credit Suisse cuts target to $32.50; outperform
• Carbo Ceramics Inc : Morgan Stanley cuts to underweight
• Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners : Piper Jaffray raises target to $5; overweight
• Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners : Roth Capital raises target to $6 from $5; buy
• CDW : RBC starts with outperform – Benzinga.com
• Century Aluminum : BofA Merrill raises to buy – Theflyonthewall.com
• Chevron Corp : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $145 from $150; rating outperform
• Choice Hotels International : Nomura raises target to $54 from $49; rating neutral
• Cintas Corp : Baird raises target price to $72 from $66; rating neutral
• Cintas Corp : Barclays raises target price to $68 from $65
• Civeo Corp : Susquehanna cuts target price to $14 from $16; rating neutral
• Civeo Corp : Howard Weil cuts price target to $14 from $18; rating sector perform
• Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp : CLSA starts with outperform;price target $53
• Colgate-Palmolive : Buckingham cuts target price to $71 from $73; rating buy
• Computer Sciences : Raymond James raises to outperform – Theflyonthewall.com
• Copa Holdings : Imperial Capital cuts target to $155 from $175; rating outperform
• Credicorp : Deutsche Bank raises target price to $184 from $175; rating buy
• CTC Media Inc : Otkritie cuts price target to $8.2 from $11; rating hold
• CVR Refining LP : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $22 from $28; rating neutral
• Dominion Diamond : Barclays raises to overweight from equal weight; target to $18
• Eaton Corp : Morgan Stanley cuts target price to $80 from $86; rating overweight
• Ebay Inc : Canaccord Genuity cuts to hold rating
• Ebay Inc : Susquehanna raises target price to $56 from $52; rating neutral
• Encana Corp : Canaccord Genuity raises price target to $25 from $24; rating hold
• Encana Corp : RBC raises target price to $33 from $30; rating outperform
• Encana Corp : TD Securities raises target price $32 from $31; rating buy
• Endocyte Inc : Brean cuts to hold from buy
• Endologix Inc : BMO cuts target price to $14 from $17; rating outperform
• Endologix Inc : JP Morgan cuts price target to $14 from $17; rating neutral
• Equifax Inc : Evercore raises target price to $86 from $78
• Exelon : Credit Suisse raises target price to $40 from $36
• Exfo : RBC cuts target price to $5 from $5.25
• Facebook Inc : Evercore raises target price to $95 from $90; rating overweight
• Finish Line : Morgan Stanley cuts target price to $31 from $34
• FirstEnergy : Credit Suisse raises target price to $33 from $30
• Flagstar Bancorp : Btig raises to neutral – Theflyonthewall.com
• Ford Motor : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $15.50 from $18; neutral rating
• Ford Motor : Deutsche Bank cuts target price to $18 from $20; rating buy
• Ford Motor : Barclays cuts target price to $19 from $20; rating equal weight
• Ford Motor : JP Morgan cuts target price to $20 from $22; rating overweight
• Ford Motor : Buckingham cuts price target to $13 from $14; rating underperform
• Ford Motor : Craig-Hallum cuts to hold – Benzinga.com
• Ford Motor : UBS cuts target price to $19 from $22; rating buy
• Frank’s International : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $22 from $24
• FTI Consulting Inc : Avondale Partners raises to market outperform rating
• FTI Consulting Inc : Avondale Partners raises target price to $43 from $42
• Global Payments : Evercore cuts target price to $77 from $79
• GT Advanced Technologies Inc : UBS cuts target to $13 from $17; rating neutral
• Helmerich & Payne : Morgan Stanley raises target to $101 from $99; underweight
• HESS Corp : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $116 from $120; rating outperform
• Himax Technologies : Oppenheimer raises target to $11 from $8; rating outperform
• Hollyfrontier Corp : Credit Suisse cuts target to $44 from $49.51; rating neutral
• Host Hotels & Resorts Inc : Nomura raises target price to $27 from $26; rating buy
• Huntsman Corp : KeyBanc raises price target to $34 from $32; rating buy
• Hyatt Hotels Corp : Nomura raises target price to $78 from $73; rating buy
• ICU Medical Inc : Raymond James raises to strong buy from outperform rating
• ICU Medical Inc : Raymond James raises target price to $77 from $67
• Investors Bancorp Inc : Compass Point adds to focus list; rating buy
• Iron Mountain Inc : Baird cuts target price to $35 from $39; rating neutral
• Jack In The Box Inc : Wunderlich raises price target to $77 from $70; rating buy
• Janus Capital Group Inc : Goldman Sachs raises target to $17 from $12; neutral
• Kellogg Co : Morgan Stanley cuts to underweight
• Keryx Biopharmaceuticals : Maxim raises price target to $26 from $24; rating buy
• Kirby : Goldman Sachs starts with neutral – Theflyonthewall.com
• Liberty Media Corp : Pivotal Research raises target to $63 from $61; rating buy
• Limelight Networks Inc : D.A. Davidson cuts target to $2.70 from $4.50; rating buy
• Lockheed Martin Corp : Stifel raises to buy from hold rating
• Marathon : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $105 from $110; rating outperform
• Marriott International Inc : Nomura raises target price to $84 from $74
• Masonite International : CL King starts with buy rating
• Medtronic Inc : Needham starts with buy rating
• Mellanox Technologies : Piper Jaffray raises to overweight; price target to $50
• Moneygram International : Piper Jaffray cuts target to $12 from $14.50; neutral
• MSCI Inc : Evercore raises target price to $50 from $40
• Murphy Oil Corp : Credit Suisse raises target price to $70 from $65; rating neutral
• Mylan Inc : JP Morgan cuts price target to $60 from $68; rating overweight
• Nabors Industries Ltd : Morgan Stanley cuts target to $31 from $34; overweight
• Nabors Industries : Jefferies cuts target price to $35
• Nike Inc : Morgan Stanley raises target price to $105 from $88; rating overweight
• NiSource Inc : Credit Suisse raises to outperform from neutral
• NiSource Inc : Credit Suisse raises price target to $50 from $41
• Northern Tier Energy : Credit Suisse cuts target to $28 from $32; rating outperform
• NuVasive Inc : Brean Capital raises to buy from hold
• NXT-ID : Northland starts with outperform – Theflyonthewall.com
• Nxstage Medical : Canaccord Genuity raises target to $22 from $20; rating buy
• Orbital Sciences Corp : Stifel resumes coverage with buy; price target $33
• Patterson-UTI Energy Inc : Morgan Stanley raises to equal-weight from underweight
• Patterson-UTI Energy Inc : Morgan Stanley raises target price to $38 from $28
• PBF Energy Inc : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $24 from $29; rating neutral
• PDF Solutions : D.A. Davidson cuts target price to $24 from $30; rating buy
• Perrigo Company Plc : JP Morgan raises target to $185 from $175; rating overweight
• Phillips 66 : Credit Suisse raises target price to $95 from $85; rating neutral
• Pier 1 Imports Inc : Wedbush assumes coverage with neutral rating; target of $13
• Powell Industries Inc : Stifel cuts target price to $56 from $68; rating buy
• Precision Drilling : Morgan Stanley cuts target to $15 from $18; rating overweight
• Public Service Enterprise : Credit Suisse raises target price to $40 from $37
• Rambus : Jefferies raises price target to $14 from $13.50; rating hold
• Range Resources : Imperial Capital starts with outperform rating; target of $100
• Raytheon Co : Stifel raises to buy from hold rating
• Ross Stores Inc : Wedbush raises price target to $87 from $83; rating outperform
• Royal Dutch Shell : Bernstein raises to outperform from market-perform
• Royal Dutch Shell : Bernstein raises to outperform from market-perform
• Rush Enterprises Inc : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $38. from $41
• Rush Enterprises : Credit Suisse cuts to neutral rating
• Ryman Hospitality Properties : Nomura raises target to $54 from $53; rating neutral
• Sagent Pharmaceuticals : JP Morgan raises target to $30 from $27; rating neutral
• Seventy Seven Energy Inc : Jefferies raises to buy; target price to $28
• Seventy Seven Energy Inc : Morgan Stanley raises to overweight from equal-weight
• Seventy Seven Energy Inc : Morgan Stanley raises target price to $31 from $29
• Jude Medical Inc : Needham starts with strong buy rating; target price $78
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide : Nomura ups target to $99 from $96;rating buy
• Steven Madden Ltd : Wunderlich raises target price to $43 from $42; rating buy
• Synnex Corp : Raymond James raises target price to $70 from $68; rating outperform
• TE Connectivity Ltd : RBC cuts target price to $67 from $68; rating outperform
• Teekay Corp : Deutsche Bank raises to buy from hold; target price to $90 from $68
• Teradyne Inc : Susquehanna cuts target price to $24 from $25; rating positive
• Tesoro Corp : Credit Suisse cuts target price to $72 from $75; rating outperform
• Tetraphase Pharma : JMP Securities raises target to $32 from $20;market outperform
• TIBCO Software : Barclays revises rating to equal weight; adjusts target to $24
• TIBCO Software : Wedbush raises target price to $24 from $19; rating neutral
• Unitedhealth Group : Raymond James raises target to $99 from $98; rating strong buy
• US Ecology : Imperial Capital starts with an in-line rating and a $50 price target
• Vale : Barclays cuts target price to $12 from $13
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals : JP Morgan cuts target to $175 from $180;rating overweight
• Valero Energy Corp : Credit Suisse cuts target to $50 from $60; rating neutral
• Viacom Inc : Bernstein cuts target price to $88 from $92; rating market-perform
• Visa Inc : Evercore cuts target price to $261 from $268
• Vitamin Shoppe : Piper Jaffray cuts to neutral; cuts price target to $44 from $45
• Western Refining Inc : Credit Suisse cuts target to $47 from $51; rating outperform
• Western Union Co : Piper Jaffray cuts target to $15.50 from $16.50; rating neutral
• Wex Inc : Evercore raises target price to $122 from $93
• Wyndham Worldwide Corp : Nomura raises target price to $85 from $81; rating neutral

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