Ahead Of The Bell: Stec Downgraded After Rally

NEW YORK (AP) — A B. Riley & Co. analyst downgraded shares of memory chip maker Stec Inc. on Wednesday but raised his price target, citing a recent climb in the stock price.

In a client note, analyst Mike Crawford downgraded the stock to "Neutral" from "Buy," saying it "has had a historic run — a run which we believe fairly encompasses the good news to date."

Crawford noted the company's stock is at an all-time high, having risen more than 500 percent from lows set in December. The stock started December trading at $5.45, and began June at $16.39. On Tuesday, Stec shares finished trading at $20.92.

The increase has been driven by demand for the company's ZeusIOPS solid-state drive products, which it started shipping to companies like EMC Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Hitachi Ltd., IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. this year.

Crawford lifted his share price target to $20 from $17.25.