Analysts' Upgrades, Downgrades: VMWare

See who made what calls.

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Nov 5, 2008 9:10 AM EST

Change in Ratings

Celestica

upgraded at Goldman Sachs to Neutral from Sell. Expect organizational changes, impressive 2008 results and end to restructuring charges to provide stability to shares. Price target lowered to $4.90 from $7.60.

DTE Energy

(DTE) - Get Report

downgraded at Citigroup from Buy to Hold. Valuation call, based on a $37 price target.

Fossil

(FOSL) - Get Report

downgraded at J.P. Morgan to Underweight from Neutral based on risks to earnings and margins. Believe sell-side estimates could be at risk based on currency effects and combination of higher inventories and decelerating sales environment. Price target cut to $16 from $19.

Grainger

(GWW) - Get Report

downgraded at Merrill from Buy to Neutral. Estimates also cut, given lower expected results in the North American economy.

Health Net

(HNT)

downgraded at Citigroup from Hold to Sell. $8 price target. Estimates also cut, assuming a higher medical loss ratio. Stock can trade down to tangible book value. Health Net target cut at Credit Suisse to $11 from $24. Maintained Neutral rating.

Iron Mountain

(IRM) - Get Report

upgraded at Credit Suisse to Outperform from Neutral. Cites attractive risk/reward coupled with solid defensive growth. Maintained $34 target price.

Lincoln National

(LNC) - Get Report

downgraded at Merrill to Neutral. $36 price target. Company may have to raise more capital if the market pulls back from current levels.

Microchip Technology

(MCHP) - Get Report

downgraded at Goldman Sachs to Sell from Neutral due to slowdown in core growth and impact from increasing competition in MCUs. Note increasing pace of customer upgrades away from 8-bit to 16- and 32-bit. Price target cut to $21 from $26.

Principal Financial

(PFG) - Get Report

upgraded at Merrill to Buy. Company can generate high-teens ROE in a normal environment, reducing the risk that it will have to raise a lot of capital.

Raymond James

(RJF) - Get Report

downgraded at Wachovia to Underperform. Weak retail and capital markets should plague earnings in 2009. Company is also hurt by the current interest rate structure.

VMWare

(VMW) - Get Report

downgraded at Merrill to Neutral. $31 price target. Valuation call, as the stock is up 62% since earnings.

Stock Comments/EPS Changes

Dean Foods

(DF) - Get Report

numbers cut at Morgan Stanley. Shares now seen reaching $26. Estimates also lowered to match the company's new guidance. Equal-weight rating.

EOG Resources

(EOG) - Get Report

price target raised at Goldman to $93 from $90 following strong Q3 earnings results. Maintained Buy rating.

Herbalife

(HLF) - Get Report

numbers cut at Morgan Stanley. Target lowered to $52. Estimates also cut, given the company's new guidance. Overweight rating.

Philip Morris

(PM) - Get Report

target trimmed at Goldman to $54 from $56 based on lower earnings expectations related to currency volatility. Fundamentals remain extremely strong. Maintained Buy rating.

Textron

(TXT) - Get Report

price target lowered at Goldman to $21 from $23. Company lowered Cessna 2009 production expectations. Maintained Neutral rating.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.