Citigroup (C) on (MSFT) (VMW) (CRM) (ADBE) (SYMC) and Macroeconomic Effect on Sector

Referencing the upcoming Technology Conference, Citigroup (NYSE:C) software analyst Walter Pritchard said one major concern for the sector is the macroeconomic situation, which is weakening, but not yet showing up in the outlook for software companies such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), VMWare (NYSE:VMW), Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC).

Pritchard said, “It may be a matter of time before the backdrop catches up with software companies,” as the probable fallout hasn't hit the estimates for the firms yet.

Among his favorites in the software sector are Taleo (NASDAQ:TLEO), Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN), Symantec, and Check Point (NASDAQ:CHKP).

Other companies in the Conference will be Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK), BMC Software (NASDAQ:BMC), CA (NASDAQ:CA), Citrix Systems (NASDAQ:CTXS), Dassault Systems (OTC:DASTY), Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) and SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF).

SolarWinds (SWI) (HLIT) (BMC) (WU) (AFSI) (QSFT) Get New Coverage

SolarWinds, Inc. (NYSE: SWI), Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC), The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFSI) and Quest Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSFT) getting new coverage from analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on SolarWinds, Inc. (SWI). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $27.00 on the company.

Kaufman Brothers initiated coverage on Harmonic (HLIT). They placed a “Hold” rating and a price target of $6.50 on the company.

Jefferies initiated coverage on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC). They placed a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target on the company.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on The Western Union Company (WU). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $21.00 on the company.

SunTrust (NYSE:STI) initiated coverage on Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. (AFSI). They placed a “Buy” rating on the company.

Jefferies initiated coverage on Quest Software, Inc. (QSFT). They placed a “Hold” rating and a price target of $16.00 on the company.

Allied (ANV) (EGN) (NEE) (SWY) (SYMC) (AKAM) (BMC) Ratings Reiterated

Allied Nevada Gold Corp (NYSE: ANV), Energen (NYSE: EGN), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC), Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) and BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC) ratings reiterated by analysts.

Dahlman Rose reiterated its "Buy" rating on Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (ANV). They have a price target of $53.76 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated its "Buy" rating on Energen (EGN).

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its "Buy" rating on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE). They have a price target of $62.50 on the company.

Citigroup reiterated its "Hold" rating on Safeway Inc. (SWY). They have a price target of $23.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated an "Overweight" rating on Symantec (SYMC). They have a price target of $26.00 on the company.

Oppenheimer reiterated a "Market Perform" rating on Akamai Technologies (AKAM).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "Underweight" rating on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC). They have a price target of $35.00 on the company.

Price Targets on (ABMD) (AFL) (BJ) (BMC) (CCMP) Updated

Price targets on shares of Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD), AFLAC (NYSE: AFL), BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc (NYSE: BJ), BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC) and Cabot Microelectronics Co. (NASDAQ: CCMP) were updated by analysts.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) raised their price target on Abiomed (ABMD) to $20.00.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cut their price target on AFLAC (AFL) to $64.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc (BJ) from $52.00 to $56.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Collins Stewart raised their price target on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) from $58.00 to $62.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on Cabot Microelectronics Co. (CCMP) to $7.00.

Coverage on (PWR) (BMC) (HCA) (NLY) (BEBE) Initiated by Analysts

Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE:PWR), BMC Software Inc (NASDAQ:BMC), HCA Inc (NYSE:HCA), Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE:NLY) and Bebe Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:BEBE) had coverage initiated on them by analysts.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Quanta Services Inc. (PWR), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They lowered their price target from $26 to $23 on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on BMC Software Inc (BMC), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They raised their price target from $55.00 to $62.50 on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on HCA Inc (HCA), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They raised their price target from $38 to $39 on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NLY), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They placed a price target of $18 on the company.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Bebe Stores, Inc. (BEBE), starting them off with a "Buy" rating. They placed a price target of $8 on the company.

EPS On (BMC) (CLH) (MTD) (PWR) Updated by Analysts

BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC), Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH), Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE: MTD) and Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) had their EPS estimates updated by analysts.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised their EPS estimates on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $56.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised their EPS estimates on Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $95.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised their EPS estimates on Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (MTD). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $180.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs cut their EPS estimates on Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $21.00 on the company.

Price Targets on (ACE) (BMC) (DPZ) (FARO) (FSYS) Updated

ACE Ltd (NYSE: ACE), BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC), Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), FARO Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: FARO) and Fuel Systems Solutions (NASDAQ: FSYS) had price targets updated.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on ACE Ltd (ACE) from $68.00 to $73.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) from $54.00 to $58.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Feltl & Co. raised their price target on Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (DPZ) from $20.00 to $24.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Needham & Company raised their price target on FARO Technologies Inc (FARO) from $42.00 to $47.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Northland Securities raised their price target on Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS) from $25.00 to $30.00. They have a “market perform” rating on the company.

Price Targets on (BMC) (CMCSA) (CRL) (CSX) (DLR) Updated by Analysts

Price targets on BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC), Comcast Co. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL), CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) and Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) were updated by analysts.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) raised their price target on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) from $55.00 to $62.50. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Kaufman Brothers raised their price target on Comcast Co. (CMCSA) from $28.00 to $30.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on Charles River Laboratories (CRL) from $40.00 to $42.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Longbow Research raised their price target on CSX Corp. (CSX) from $90.00 to $92.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

UBS AG raised their price target on Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) from $45.00 to $49.00. They have a “sell” rating on the company.

Price Targets on (ASCA) (AGN) (AWK) (BMC) (CMCSA) Updated by Analysts

Price targets on Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA), Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN), American Water Works Co Inc (NYSE: AWK), BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC) and Comcast Co. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) were updated by analysts.

Brean Murray raised their price target on Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) from $28.00 to $30.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on Allergan, Inc. (AGN) from $83.00 to $89.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Brean Murray raised their price target on American Water Works Co Inc (AWK) from $35.00 to $38.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Oppenheimer raised their price target on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) from $52.00 to $57.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

UBS AG raised their price target on Comcast Co. (CMCSA) from $27.00 to $30.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

BMC (Nasdaq:BMC) Punished on Earning Miss

An increase in revenue in the fiscal third quarter of BMC (Nasdaq:BMC) wasn't enough to satisfy investors. Neither did the guidance of the company, which at the top end of the range of $2.92 to $3.02, beats analysts' estimates of $3.00.

Of course the wide range is somewhat problematic, suggesting, or at least projecting, some uncertainty.

Focusing on the improvement in bookings, BMC CEO Bob Beauchamp said, "Our growth strategy is working very well as we yet again increased our annual bookings outlook, nearly doubling our original bookings growth expectations for the fiscal year."

Bookings growth is now projected to grow in the high single digits in 2011 for BMC. The previous bookings growth estimate was from the mid to high single digits.

BMC closed Wednesday at $48.20, down $0.17, or 0.35 percent. In after hours trading they fell to $47.00, losing $1.20, or 2.49 percent.

Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE), Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC), VeriSign (Nasdaq:VRSN), BMC (NYSE:BMC) Top Software Picks of Citigroup (NYSE:C)

Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) continues to be the "Top Pick" in the software sector by Citigroup (NYSE:C), continuing on with their call from the middle of December. Other top software picks by Citigroup are Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC), VeriSign (Nasdaq:VRSN) and BMC (NYSE:BMC).

For BMC Software, Citi called them their "growth at a reasonable price" idea.

Concerning Symantec, they were identified as the "Top Value" idea by the giant bank.

VeriSign was singled out as the "Top Growth" software stock in the sector.

Adobe was trading at $33.69, gaining $0.71, or 2.15 percent, as of 2:34 PM EST. Citigroup has a price target of $42 on Adobe. BMC Software was trading at $47.60, up $0.23, or 0.49 percent. Symantec was at $17.72, up $0.63, or 3.69 percent. VeriSign was trading down $32.56, losing $0.21, or 0.64 percent.

BMC Software (NASDAQ:BMC) Cloud Momentum Accelerating

Shares of BMC Software (NASDAQ:BMC) are expected to trend higher, says Barclays (NYSE:BCS), citing accelerated cloud momentum and long-term growth prospects.

Barclays said, "With BMC beginning to show increasing cloud management momentum (ESM license bookings +35% fiscal year to date, expected mid-teens long term) and with the company raising its long-term growth outlook above FY12 consensus, we believe shares can continue to trend higher as investors begin to appreciate the growth strategy. As stock remains under-owned, we believe multiple has room to move higher. We raise our FY12 EPS estimates to $3.30 from $3.25 on 6% revenue growth, up from prior estimate of 5.1%."

Barclays maintains an "Overweight" on BMC Software, which closed Wednesday at $47.87, up $0.29, or 0.61 percent. They raised their price target on BMC from $50 to $54.

Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) Partners with BMC Software (Nasdaq:BMC)

Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) and BMC Software (Nasdaq:BMC) have reportedly formed an alliance in order to develop and market cloud computing solutions for large-scale multi-tenant infrastructures.

Bob Beauchamp, chairman and chief executive officer at BMC Software, said in a press release, "As cloud computing evolves from a strategic idea to a business reality, companies are quickly discovering the complexities of deploying and managing cloud solutions in a hybrid data center. BMC's alliance with Cisco will enable our customers with large-scale cloud computing environments to make mission-critical cloud services a practical reality for their demanding businesses and customers. IT organizations can be more nimble, cost-efficient, scalable, and, most importantly, better aligned to the business."

One of the benefits will be the empowerment of companies to eliminate some of the complexities of the process to set up a cloud computing service, which in many cases are manual steps at this time.

Also part of the agreement will have Cisco reselling BMC's Service Assurance and Compliance solutions as an option on the Cisco Unified Computing System.

BMC closed Tuesday at $45.96, up by $0.23, or 0.50 percent. Cisco closed the day at $19.39, down $0.04, or 0.19 percent.