Ratings on (GIII) (HST) (ISBC) (JASO) (LZ) Downgraded

G-III Apparel (NASDAQ: GIII), Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HST), Investors Bancorp (NASDAQ: ISBC), JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) and Lubrizol Co. (NYSE: LZ) get ratings downgrades.

Sidoti downgraded shares of G-III Apparel (GIII) to a “neutral” rating.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (HST) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc downgraded shares of Investors Bancorp (ISBC) from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.

Needham & Company downgraded JA Solar (JASO) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) downgraded Lubrizol Co. (LZ) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They have a price target of $135.00 on the company.

Buffett, Berkshire (BRK-A) Sued Over Sokol, Lubrizol (LZ) Situation

In what appears to be the first lawsuit filed against Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-A) and Warren Buffett over the recommendation by former Berkshire manager David Sokol for Buffett to invest in Lubrizol Corp. (NYSE:LZ) after Sokol had acquired shares in the company, Berkshire investor Mason Kirby is asking for the recovery of damages.

Kirby stated in papers made public in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, “Sokol knew that Buffett would closely consider and likely take his recommendation. As a result of Sokol’s unethical behavior, Berkshire suffered significant reputational losses and other damages.”

Kirby asserts that Buffett and Sokol, “working in concert,” violated duties to shareholders “and put the company at risk for a potential adverse SEC action and negative credit rating.”

Sokol acquired over 96,000 shares of Lubrizol in early January before making a recommendation to Buffett for Berkshire to acquire shares in the company.

Berkshire was trading at $120,903.00, gaining $378.00, or 0.31 percent, as of 2:55 PM EDT.

Warren Buffett (BRK-A) Accepts Heir-Apparent's Resignation

Contrary to the past actions of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) CEO Warren Buffett concerning prior resignation attempts by David Sokol, Chairman, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, and Chairman, President, and CEO of NetJets, this time he accepted the resignation, in what appears to be in response to something that irked Buffett.

Buffett said in a press release, "Dave’s letter was a total surprise to me, despite the two earlier resignation talks. I had spoken with him the previous day about various operating matters and received no hint of his intention to resign. This time, however, I did not attempt to talk him out of his decision and accepted his resignation."

The accepted resignation appears to come from Sokol's acquisition of shares in Lubrizol (NYSE:LZ) before he had attempted to convince Buffett to invest in the company.

While Buffett doesn't believe it was in any way unlawful, the tone of his press release seemed to be that he was somewhat irritated by what could be construed as an impropriety.

As in the past, Sokol said he wants to pursue philanthropic efforts.

Buffett quoted him saying, “As I have mentioned to you in the past, it is my goal to utilize the time remaining in my career to invest my family’s resources in such a way as to create enduring equity value and hopefully an enterprise which will provide opportunity for my descendents and funding for my philanthropic interests. I have no more detailed plan than this because my obligations from Berkshire Hathaway have been my first and only business priority.”

Buffett, Berkshire (BRK-A) Acquire Lubrizol (LZ) for $9 Billion

Take away the major $26 billion deal for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the $9 billion acquisition of Lubrizol (NYSE:LZ) by Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) is one of the largest deals made in years.

Berkshire Hathaway said in a news release today it was acquiring Lubrizol for close to $9 billion in cash, and will assume approximately $700 million in debt as well.

The offer is $135 a share for the chemicals company, a 28 percent premium over Friday's closing price of $105.44 and an 18 percent increase over its all-time high.

Buffett said this about the deal: "Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner - the global leader in several market applications run by a talented CEO, James Hambrick. Our only instruction to James - just keep doing for us what you have done so successfully for your shareholders."

Luzrizol was trading at $134.06, up $28.62, or 27.14, as of 11:43 AM EST. Berkshire Hathaway was trading at $126,045.00, down $1,955.00, or 1.53 percent.