Cubic (CUB) (MU) (NYT) (CIT) (CTSH) (DIS) Coach (COH) Ratings, Price Targets

Cubic (NYSE: CUB), Micron Technology, Inc. (NYSE: MU), New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Coach (NYSE: COH) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Cubic (CUB) had its price target raised by Benchmark Co. from $52.00 to $60.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $7.50 to $9.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

New York Times Co. (NYT) had its price target raised by Benchmark Co. to $8.00.

CIT Group Inc. (CIT) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Nomura (NYSE:NMR).

Cognizant (CTSH) had its “Top Pick” rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company.

Walt Disney (DIS) was upgraded by Davenport from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Coach (COH) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to $76.00.

NXP (NXPI) (NYT) (OI) (SATC) (RAH) (RL) Ratings, Price Targets

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI), New York Times (NYSE: NYT), Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI), SatCon (NASDAQ: SATC), Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH) and Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) ratings and price targets.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). They have a price target of $21.00 on the company.

New York Times (NYT) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS).

Owens-Illinois (OI) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs.

SatCon (SATC) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Ralcorp Holdings (RAH) was downgraded by BB&T (NYSE:BBT) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

New York Times (NYT) (MF) (MG) (OMI) (POL) Downgraded

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), MF Global Holdings Ltd (NYSE: MF), Mistras Group Incorporated (NYSE: MG), Owens & Minor (NYSE: OMI) and PolyOne (NYSE: POL) were downgraded by analysts.

New York Times Co. (NYT) was downgraded by Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $8.00 on the company.

MF Global Holdings Ltd (MF) was downgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Mistras Group Incorporated (MG) was downgraded by KeyBanc from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Owens & Minor (OMI) was downgraded by Robert W. Baird from a “Neutral” rating to an “Underperform” rating. They have a price target of $28.00 on the company, down from $32.00.

PolyOne (NYSE: POL) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Immelt Explains Low GE (GE) Taxes

The nonsensical and misleading article in the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) about the faux outrage over General Electric (NYSE:GE) not paying taxes last year when they made billions in profits, shows the ignorance of writers there and why it continues to be a relic from the past.

It's not that I like GE that much either, as they're far too subsidized and lobbied up in my view, and act and operate more like a quasi-government entity than a corporation competing in a free market (if there still was one).

In a recent speech, Immelt said this about the tax situation, “Our tax rate in 2008 and 2009 was low. We lost $32 billion in our financial-services businesses in that time period. It’s a tough way to get a low tax rate. Our tax rate is going to be much higher in 2011 and the future, but let me tell you, we got socked with losses during that time period.”

Concerning tax reform, Immelt added, “Rarely does business speak with one voice, but they do on taxes. Our system is old, it’s outdated, it’s complicated. And all of us are for closing the loopholes. Absolutely a lower corporate tax rate, and a territorial system, just like our global competitors have.”

General Electric spends more on lobbying than any other corporation, putting out $4.18 million in 2010 alone.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Replaces Office Depot (NYSE:OD) on S&P 500

Several changes were made to the S&P 500 Thursday, with one of the more notable ones being the addition of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which will be replacing Office Depot (NYSE:OD) on the index.

Other changes made include the addition of Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE:CVC), which is replacing King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:KG) because of being acquired by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE).

Also being dropped from the S&P is Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK) and the New York Times (NYSE:NYT), who will be replaced by Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) and F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV).

Stocks removed from the S&P 500 will be lowered to the mid-cap 400 index.

Also noted in the S&P report was changes to the SmallCap 600, where Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASD:CWTR), Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASD:COCO) and Wilmington Trust Corp. (NYSE:WL) will be replaced by East West Bancorp Inc. (NASD: EWBC), SM Energy Co. (NYSE:SM) and Concur Technologies Inc.

Those removed from the SmallCap 600 will be placed in the S&P MidCap 400.

Haringer Capital Fleeing NY Times (NYSE:NYT)

The failing NY Times (NYSE:NYT), which long ago abandoned mainstream America, has had one of their largest shareholders cut their stake again in the company, as Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners sold off a large portion of their stake in the company, dropping now to a 2.58 percent level. At their highest point they owned a 7.41 percent stake in the faltering Times.

In a required regulatory filing, Harbinger said, “As of November 22, 2010, the Reporting Persons (in this case Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, Ltd.) ceased to be beneficial owners of 5% or more of the outstanding Shares," in the newspaper.

Harbinger said they sold 7 million shares at a price of $8.13 a share for close to $57 million.

New York Times was trading at $8.94, losing $0.07, or 0.78 percent at 2:42 PM EDT.