Tyco (TEL) (TGH) (TROW) (BKS) (BPO) (CBRL) Ratings, Price Targets

Tyco (TEL), Textainer Group Holdings Limited (TGH), T. Rowe Price (TROW), Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS), Brookfield Properties Co. (BPO) and Cracker Barrel (CBRL) ratings and price targets.

Macquarie downgraded Tyco (TEL) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Meutral” rating.

SunTrust (NYSE:STI) downgraded Textainer Group Holdings Limited (TGH) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its “Buy” rating on T. Rowe Price (TROW). They have a price target of $64.00 on the company.

Maxim Group initiated coverage on Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS). They placed a “Buy” rating on the company.

Macquarie initiated coverage on Brookfield Properties Co. (BPO). They placed an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Morgan Keegan upgraded Cracker Barrel (CBRL) from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $58.00 on the company, up from $45.00.

Sohu (SOHU) (STX) (USG) (AGN) (AWAY) (BKS) Upgraded

Sohu.Com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU), Seagate (NYSE: STX), USG Co. (NYSE: USG), Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN), HomeAway, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) and Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) were upgraded by analysts.

Sohu.Com Inc. (SOHU) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Seagate (STX) was upgraded by Argus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

USG Co. (USG) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Allergan, Inc. (AGN) was upgraded by Argus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $95.00 on the company.

HomeAway, Inc. (AWAY) was upgraded by Pacific Crest from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to a “Buy” rating.

J.B. Hunt (JBHT) (BKS) (CBST) (CTSH) (FXCM) Ratings Reiterated

Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST), Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH), FXCM Inc (NASDAQ: FXCM) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) ratings reiterated by analysts.

Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS) ratings reiterated at an “outperform” by Morgan Keegan.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CBST) ratings reiterated at “neutral” by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Cognizant (CTSH) ratings reiterated at “overweight” by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).

FXCM (FXCM) ratings reiterated at “overweight” by JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They have a price target of $15.00 on the company.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) ratings were reiterated “hold” by Citigroup (NYSE:C).

Microsoft (MSFT) (BKS) (CUK) (GIS) (ODP) Ratings Reiterated

Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), Carnival (NYSE: CUK), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) had ratings reiterated on them.

Duncan Williams maintains a "Buy" rating on Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS). They have a price target of $61.50 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Carnival (CUK).

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated a "Buy" rating on General Mills (GIS).

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) maintains an "Overweight" rating on Microsoft (MSFT).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a "Neutral" rating on Office Depot, Inc. (ODP).

Barnes & Noble closed Thursday at $17.38, falling $0.15, or 0.86 percent. Carnival closed at $35.97, down $0.71, or 1.94 percent. General Mills ended the day at $37.36, gaining $0.48, or 1.30 percent. Microsoft closed at $26.47, dropping $0.16, or 0.60 percent. Office Depot closed at $3.75, declining $0.21, or 5.30 percent.

Big Movers (MMP) (TACT) (BKS) (PANL) (TUP) on May 6

Among the big, positive movers on Friday, May 6, were Magellan Midstream (MMP), Transact Technologie (TACT), Barnes & Noble (BKS), Universal Display (PANL) and Tupperware Corp. (TUP).

Magellan Midstream (MMP) jumped $1.66, to close at $59.03, a gain of 2.89 percent.

Transact Technologie (TACT) was up $1.66 on the day to close at $13.03, a gain of 14.60 percent.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) climbed $1.66 to close at $14.37, a gain of 13.06 percent.

Universal Display (PANL) rose $1.66 to close the session at $54.23, a gain of 3.16 percent.

Tupperware Corp. (TUP) was up $1.65 to end the day at $64.20, a gain of 2.64 percent.

Top NYSE Gainers (PRO) (LXU) (ALJ) (BKS) (WCG) on Friday

The top five gainers as measured by percentages Friday on the New York Stock exchange include Pros Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRO), LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU), Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ALJ), Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) and WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE:WCG).

Leading the group was PROS Holding (PRO), which closed Friday at $17.37, gaining $2.58, or 17. 44 percent.

Next was LSB Industries, Inc. (LXU), which ended the session at $43.52, up $6.43, or 17.34 percent.

Alon USA Energy, Inc. (ALJ) followed, closing at $13.21, rising $1.74, or 15.17 percent.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) closed at $14.37, jumping $1.66, or 13.06 percent.

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WCG) rounded off the top five gainers, ending the day at $47.33, climbing 4.89, or 11.52 percent.

Ratings on (ALNY) (APL) (BKS) (FMC) (GOOG) Initiated Today

Ratings on Alnylam Pharma (NASDAQ: ALNY), Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APL), Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) initiated by analysts today.

MLV Capital initiated coverage on Alnylam Pharma (ALNY). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $15.00 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) initiated coverage on Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (APL). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on FMC Corp. (FMC). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $104.00 on the company.

Capstone initiated coverage on Google Inc. (GOOG). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $626.00 on the company.

Price Targets on (BKS) (BP) (CAT) (CBS) Updated by Analysts

Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS), BP PLC (NYSE: BP), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) and CBS (NYSE: CBS) get price targets Updated today by analysts.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) cut their price target on Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS) from $17.00 to $14.00.

The Benchmark Company raised their price target on BP PLC (BP) from $65.00 to $70.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

RBC Capital raised their price target on Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) from $120.00 to $140.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised their price target on Caterpillar Inc. from $120.00 to $127.00.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised their price target on CBS (CBS) from $24.00 to $26.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Microsoft's (MSFT) Barnes & Noble (BKS) Lawsuit Could Hinder Google (GOOG)

The lawsuit filed by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) against Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE:BKS) and two manufacturers over Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-based Nook e-reader could end up slowing down Google's reach into the segment.

Microsoft Corp. broadened its attack on Google Inc.'s Android software, filing patent infringement lawsuits Monday against Barnes & Noble Inc. and two manufacturers over the Android-based Nook e-reader.

In the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Microsoft said it is seeking triple damages based on willful patent infringement of five patents, plus legal costs and an injunction against further infringement. Microsoft said it also filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, which has the power to bar imports of infringing products.

Barnes & Noble's Nook and Nook Color devices, which compete with Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reader and various Sony Corp. devices, are based on Android, system software developed by Google first for smartphones and then for tablet computers. Microsoft also sued Motorola, a maker of Android-based smartphones, for patent infringement in October 2010. Motorola counter-sued in November.

Microsoft's lawsuits don't go after Google directly, but they could still hurt the Web search leader if device makers decide they don't want to pay to license Microsoft's technology or risk a legal tussle with the deep-pocketed software maker.

Microsoft closed Monday at $25.33, gaining $0.53, or 2.14 percent. Barnes & Noble closed at $9.26, up $0.37, or 4.16 percent. Google closed the session at $576.50, gaining $15.44, or 2.75 percent.




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Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Offered Free for Some

It was only recently that the idea of Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) highly popular Kindle will be offered free, and that has become a reality for some, as it is being bundled by Carphone Warehouse - the mobile phone retailer in Europe - which will offer Wi-Fi Kindles for free upon the purchase of a two-year contract on select mobile phones.

There can be no doubt that this will eventually expand, especially as if sales for the contract soar because of the Kindle factor.

Along with Amazon's effort to compete with Netflix by offering free streaming content with every Prime membership, this free Kindle push could be a means to maintain an e-reader lead against Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, Barnes and Noble's (NYSE:BKS) Nook, and the Sony Reader (NYSE:SNE). Still, there's little worry about Kindle abandonment in light of iPad's success. In fact, there's actually an increase in Kindle ownership. Lunden writes:

"In a poll of those buying the iPad 2 over the first weekend of sales found that 24 percent owned a Kindle, compared to 13 percent of original iPad buyers having a Kindle. And only 6 percent use their iPad 2 as an e-reading device, down from 19 percent of those surveyed during the launch of the first iPad," said Paid Content's Ingrid Lunden.

Amazon was trading at $164.01, down $1.07, or 0.65 percent, as of 2:27 PM EDT.




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Cisco (CSCO), Best Buy (BBY), Barnes & Noble (BKS), China Agritech (CAGC), HHGregg (HGG) Hit 52-Week Lows

Shares of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), Best Buy Co.(NYSE:BBY), Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS), China Agritech (Nasdaq:CAGC) and HHGregg Inc. (NYSE:HGG) all hit 52-week lows on Friday, suggesting it may be time to take a more in-depth look at the stocks to see if they're ready for a rebound.

Most of the reasons for the share price of these stocks falling are obvious, for example, whether or not the strategy of Best Buy will be enough to overcome the growing migration of consumers to buy via competitors on the Internet.

But that's not to say some of these may be oversold and are undervalued at this time. Lows could reflect the actual value of the company, or could be an over-response to temporary catalysts.

Best Buy closed Friday at $31.52, up $0.61, or 1.97 percent. Cisco closed at $17.95, up $0.03, or 0.17 percent. HHGregg closed at $13.78, down $0.16, or 1.15 percent. Barnes & Noble ended the session at $11.74, down $0.30, or 2.49 percent. China Agritech closed the trading day at $6.88, down $0.47, or 6.39 percent.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) Plunges, Suspends Dividend as Cash Shrinks

Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE:BKS) suspended its dividend to preserve its dwindling cash and declined to give a sales forecast for the current quarter, sending its shares down 8 percent.

Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale last summer, reported a lower-than-expected profit for the holiday quarter despite a sales increase as the top U.S. bookstore chain continued to invest in developing its e-books strategy, led by its Nook e-reader.

The company said it had $26.5 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand as of January 29, down from $40.2 million a year earlier.

Barnes & Noble suggested that going-out-of-business sales by rival Borders Group (OTC:BG) could pressure its results in the short term, prompting its decision not to forecast sales and profits for the current quarter.

Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week and said it would close at least 40 percent of its 500 superstores.

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Will Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) to Gain from Border's (BGP) Bankruptcy?

With Borders (NYSE:BGP) now in the midst of the bankruptcy process, the question is which companies will benefit the most from it. More than likely it'll be Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), and to a lesser extent, Barnes and Noble (NYSE:BKS).

At issue in the short term is the closure of 200 stores by Borders, which, according to Forbes, could result in about $400 million in revenue being up for grabs. Forbes came to the number on the assumption the 200 stores being closed account for about 20 percent of overall revenue for the company.

While not exactly big numbers when taking into account the large Internet companies, over the long term it could account for some nice incremental additional sales to the retail tech majors, particularly for those focusing on magazine sales.

Amazon will obviously get the bulk of the book sales from the drop in retail stores, with Barnes and Noble picking up the majority of the rest.

Border's had generated about $2 billion in overall sales annually.

Borders (NYSE:BGP) Says Enough, Declares Bankruptcy

After fighting against the grain for years, Borders Group Inc (NYSE:BGP) has had enough, filing for bankuptcy.

The book seller said they're going to shutter almost 33 percent of the stores as part of the process.

Some believe this could be an opportunity for rival Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE:BKS), but they face the same challenges Borders has, and while there may be a modest boost for them in some markets, overall they need to push out their digital strategy and not be distracted by this event.

Borders President Mike Edward said the company "does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor." He's referring partially to the inability to service the large debt load the company was under.

He said that's why the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which will allow it to restructure its debt and remain operational.

As for the store closings, the company isn't going to wait on it, as over 30 percent will be closed over the next month.

Liabilities of Borders are $1.29 billion in debt and assets valued at $1.28 billion, as of Christmas day, 2010, according to bankruptcy documents.

The major unsecured creditors of Borders according to court documents are book publishers Pearson PLC's (LSE:PSON) Penguin $41.2 million, Hachette Book Group USA $36.9 million, and CBS's (NYSE:CBS) Simon & Schuster $33.8 million,

Borders made about every mistake a company could make in being behind the trends of their particular industry. They failed to see the permanent change in how people were reading books, and made an ill-fated attempt to sell CDs and DVDs at a time when those industries was beginning to shrink as well.

Borders last trade was $0.2284.

Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) Offering Best Shipping Deals

Consumers will be the big winners this Christmas season as retailers compete for their dollars by offering free shipping, with Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) unsurprisingly leading the way.

Wal-Mart was the first retailer to strike, saying they would offer free shipping on about 60,000 items. Contrary to some competitors, they offer it with no minimum purchase.

Amazon quickly responded to the Wal-Mart challenge by saying they'll match or beat and free shipping offer, and will include free returns for a period of 30 days.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is competing strongly next in line for shipping, but they don't include some of the more popular gifts, such as the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad. Their promotion runs until December 21.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) is offering free shipping only on Cyber Monday.

While Target (NYSE:TGT) is competing in free shipping, they require a $50 minimum, and are only running it through December 11. Gap (NYSE:GPS) also requires a minimum acquisition of $50 to get the free shipping.

Penney's (NYSE:JCP) will provide free shipping from November 24 through November 30 on orders of $25 or more.

For the first time in their history, Macy's (NYSE:M) will offer free shipping, although customers must order $99 online in order to qualify for it. They're running their free shipping through December 20.

All the retailers mentioned in the article are up in trading today.