Coverage on (AAUKY) (BHP) (BOBE) (CEPH) (CSCO) Initiated

Coverage on Anglo American plc (NASDAQ: AAUKY), BHP Billiton ADR (NYSE: BHP), Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOBE), Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) initiated by analysts.

RBS initiated coverage on Anglo American plc (AAUKY). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

RBS initiated coverage on BHP Billiton (BHP). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Miller Tabak initiated coverage on Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (BOBE). They placed a “hold” rating and a price target of $35.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initiated coverage on Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH). They placed a “neutral” rating and a price target of $75.00 on the company.

BGC Financial initiated coverage on Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $24.00 on the company.

Moody's (MCO) Places Valeant (VRX) Under Review

After announcing its considering acquiring Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH), Valeant (NYSE:VRX) has been placed under review by Moody's Investors Service (NYSE:MCO), as they're considering possibly downgrading the company.

Specifically being looked at are Valeant's 'Ba3', or speculative, corporate family rating, probability of default rating and senior unsecured rating.

Moody's Senior Vice President Michael Levesque said, "An acquisition of Cephalon would provide Valeant with new specialty pharmaceutical products including several strong brands in neuroscience and pain, and a stronger generics presence in Central Europe. However, the acquisition offer comes shortly on the heels of the Biovail/Valeant merger and highlights an extremely dynamic acquisition strategy and aggressive financial policies."

If the deal is consummated, Moody's said it will zero in on the terms of the deal, debt, credit metrics effects, financial policies and integration challenges.

Moody's did note if there is a downgrade it will probably be one notch.

Valeant (VRX) Bids $5.7B for Cephalon (CEPH)

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:VRX) announced it has made a bid to acquire biopharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH) for $5.7 billion in cash.

Valeant resorted to airing out its proposed takeover bid after Cephalon rejected its behind-the-scene overtures, saying the offer was too low.

The proposed bid by Mississauga, Ontario-based Valeant amounts to $73 a share and represents a 27 percent premium over Frazer, Penn.-based Cephalon's closing price on Monday.

Valeant said it intends to begin a consent solicitation process next week in an effort to replace Cephalon's board with its own nominees.

It also noted that it has received a letter of financing from Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE:GS), which it would use to fully fund a Cephalon acquisition.

Cephalon closed Tuesday at $58.75, up $1.18, or 2.05 percent. In after hours trading it soared to $72.89, gaining $14.14, or 24.07 percent.

Valeant closed at $44.39, up $0.13, or 0.29 percent. It jumped to $51.00, gaining $6.61, or 14.89 percent.




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Alexion (NASDAQ:ALXN), Cadence (NASDAQ:CADX), Cubist (NASDAQ:CBST), Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN), Human Genome (NASDAQ:HGSI) Could be Takeover Targets

With time and costs a major factor in the drug industry, companies appear to be hunting for takeover targets like Alexion (NASDAQ:ALXN), Cadence (NASDAQ:CADX), Cubist (NASDAQ:CBST), Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN) and Human Genome (NASDAQ:HGSI), which have a pipeline, or are close to developing a pipeline, with soon-to-be-approved drugs.

Others noted in a recent Barron's article as possible takeover candidates were Acorda (NASDAQ:ACOR), AMAG Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMAG), BioMarin (NASDAQ:BMRN), Cephalon (NASDAQ:CEPH), Jazz Pharma (NASDAQ:JAZZ), Onyx (NASDAQ:ONXX), United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR), and Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SLXP).

Some of the companies rose on the assertions, with Cadence closing Monday at $7.76, gaining $0.47, or 6.52 percent.

Cephalon's (NASDAQ:CEPH) Nuvigil Will Have No New Claims in 2012

After having their latest attempt to expand the uses of Nuvigil rejected by the Food and Drug Administration, Cephalon (NASDAQ:CEPH) will have no new uses for Nuvigil when Provigil loses its protection and becomes generic.

Baird said, "We don't view this as a big surprise or major revenue opportunity off-the-table. It does, however, confirm Nuvigil will have no differentiated label claims in April 2012 when predecessor product Provigil goes generic. Recalling the tale, it is an "emperor" with no "new clothes." We expect the payer overhang to only increase over the next 1.5 years."

Baird maintains a "Neutral" rating on Cephalon, which closed Monday at $63.49, down $0.51, or 0.80 percent. They have a price target of $64 on them.