Google (GOOG) (ITW) (JEC) (JNPR) (LVS) (OXY) (WFT) Price Targets Changed

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW), Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE: OXY) and Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) had price targets changed by analysts.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) had its price target raised by Capstone to $689.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) had its price target cut by Sterne Agee to $60.00.

Jacobs Engineering (JEC) had its price target slashed by Stifel Nicolaus from $60.00 to $55.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $39.00 to $37.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) had its price target boosted by Brean Murray from $53.00 to $59.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Occidental Petroleum Co. (OXY) had its price target cut by Howard Weil from $132.00 to $128.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Weatherford (WFT) had its price target raised by Howard Weil from $22.00 to $26.00. They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

AK Steel (AKS) (MUSA) (WFT) (SBUX) (RFMD) (PETM) Upgraded

AK Steel Holding Co. (NYSE: AKS), Metals USA Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: MUSA), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), RF Micro Device (NASDAQ: RFMD) and Petsmart Inc (NASDAQ: PETM) upgraded by analysts.

AK Steel Holding Co. (AKS) was upgraded by CRT Capital to a “Buy” rating.

Metals USA Holdings Corp. (MUSA) was upgraded by Davenport from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Weatherford (WFT) was upgraded by Pritchard from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Starbucks (SBUX) was upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

RF Micro Device (RFMD) was upgraded by Craig Hallum from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Petsmart (PETM) was upgraded by Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Overweight” rating. They have a price target of $53.00 on the company.

Anadarko (APC) (S) (VMED) (WFT) (UPS) (LLTC) Ratings Reiterated

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) and Linear Technology Co. (NASDAQ: LLTC) had ratings on them reiterated.

Scotia Capital reiterated its “Sector Perform” rating on Anadarko Petroleum (APC).

Collins Stewart reiterated its “Neutral” rating on Sprint Nextel (S). They have a price target of $5.00 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated its "Buy" rating on Virgin Media (VMED). They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

Dahlman Rose reiterated its "Buy" rating on Weatherford (WFT).

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) reiterated an “Overweight” United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS).

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its "Hold" rating on Linear Technology Co. (LLTC). They have a price target of $34.00 on the company.

DuPont (DD) (ETN) (CIE) Price Targets Boosted

Price targets on Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Cobalt International Energy (NYSE: CIE) were changed on April 25th, with analysts given a boost to each company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on Eaton Corp. to $57.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the stock.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) raised their price target on DuPont (NYSE: DD) from $59.00 to $64.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the stock.

Jefferies raised their price target on shares of Cobalt International Energy from $16.50 to $19.50. They have an “Overweight” rating on the stock.

WESCO (WCC) (WFT) (HON) (ESV) Price Target Changes

Price targets on WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) and ENSCO PLC (NYSE: ESV) were changed on April 25th, with analysts weighing in on the up and downside of the movements.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) boosted their price target on WESCO International, Inc. from $69.00 to $70.00.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) cut their price target on Weatherford from $28.00 to $26.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the stock.

Oppenheimer raised their price target on Honeywell International Inc. from $68.00 to $73.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the stock.

Jefferies raised their price target on ENSCO PLC from $64.00 to $67.00. They have a “Buy” rating on ENSCO.

Schlumberger (SLB), Weatherford (WFT) Boost Outlook for Oilfield Service Industry

The performance of oilfield service providers has been weak, as Gulf oil drilling permits remain extremely slow to obtain, terrible weather in Australia and unrest in the Middle East continues to weigh on the industry, although Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE:SLB) and Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE:WFT) provided a ray of hope as they boosted their outlook for the sector as exploration is speeding up and higher oil prices, along with demand, support the oil industry.

Schlumberger Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould noted, "The absence of Libyan production worries the oil producers."

"I think that I'm much more confident that the international stream will come back faster," he added.

Bernard Duroc Danner, the CEO of Weatherford, said his company will increase capital expenditures to take advantage of improving international and North American markets for the company's services.

Assuming that's the case, it's good news in light of Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO) reporting a 14 percent fall in quarterly profit as the rates paid for its oil and gas drilling rigs dropped. Rival Noble Corp (NYSE:NE) also reported an 85 percent decline in quarterly profit after the market close on Wednesday.

Schlumberger was trading at $89.98, gaining $2.09, or 2.38 percent, as of 2:57 PM EDT. Weatherford was at $20.68, falling $0.45, or 2.13 percent. Diamond Offshore was trading at $77.87, jumping $1.47, or 1.92 percent. Noble Corp. was trading at $42.80, losing $0.63, or 1.45 percent.

Halliburton (HAL) Boosting Activity at Saudi Project

Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) announced it is going to boost its activity at its Saudi Manifa project, generating speculation as to the reasons for the move.

Some suggest it points to limited supplies of the oil reserves in the country, and others that it is seeking to increase the amount of spare capacity in order to push back against rising oil prices around the world.

Other companies that could benefit from the increased production in Saudi Arabia, if that is in fact what is going on, will be Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR), Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE:WFT), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB) and Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI).

For Halliburton, they are now operating one rig at Manifa, but it has had a goal from the beginning to operate up to 10 rigs in the project.

Others that could benefit from a increase in drilling in Saudi Arabia would be those who are specialists in drilling in shallow waters.

Halliburton closed Tuesday at $49.00, gaining $1.10, or 2.30 percent.

Wells (WFC) Cuts Weatherford (WFT) Earnings Outlook

Troubled Weatherford (NYSE:WFT) has had its full-year earnings estimated lowered by Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), primarily on the effects arising from the devastating floods in Australia.

They lowered their outlook from $1.08 a share to 97 cents a share.

Other factors which have also resulted in Weatherford itself lowering their first-quarter outlook was ongoing unrest in the Middle East and tax rates which were higher than expected.

Weatherford lowered its earnings outlook in the first quarter from 27 cents a share to 18 cents a share.

Also communicated by the company in a filing was that Principal Accounting Officer Charles E. Geer has resigned from the company after the discovery of tax-accounting errors which has force Weatherford to revise prior results by approximately $500 million over the last four years.

The announcement, according to Wells Fargo Securities analyst Matt Conlan, probably means there will be no other resignations or firings related to the accounting fiasco.

Weatherford closed Wednesday at $19.88, falling $0.57, or 2.79 percent.

Option Traders Pounce on Weatherford (WFT)

Weatherford (NYSE:WFT) has attracted the interest of options traders, but not in the way that was expected, as they shrugged of the $500 million accounting error and bought up call options on the company.

The feeling is it was a one-time error the company was involved in, and expectations are it'll bounce back when the market sorts that out.

William Lefkowitz, options strategist for vFinance Investments, said, "You're never really sure how serious a tax-accounting problem is. But if it's a one-time mistake and they clean it up, all of a sudden the stock could rebound. That's why people would buy the calls."

Over 121,000 calls were acquired on Weatherford's stock, in contrast to the 53,000 put purchased, according to data from Trade Alert.

The Wall Street Journal noted, "One of the biggest moves was a strategy that traders have dubbed a "call stupid" or 'stupid spread.'

"A 'call stupid' is the purchase of two batches of bullish options to make a doubly optimistic bet. In most other types of call spreads, traders buy one batch of options and sell another to cut down on the cost.

"The traders in this case bought long-dated January $22.50 and $25 Weatherford calls in a play for shares to gain substantially by the beginning of 2012, according to a report by Pipeline Trading Systems LLC."

Weatherford International closed at $21.14, falling $2.38, or 10.12 percent.

Weatherford (WFT) Plunges on Accounting Issues

After Weatherford International (NYSE:WFT) disclosed it would have to delay its annual report because of the need to restate its financial statements because of accounting issues, shares of the company plummeted by over 11 percent.

The company said on a conference call, “We have assumed that cessation of business activities in parts of the Middle East and North Africa regions due to political turmoil will be short-lived, that the negative impact on our business will not be material, and that the region will not experience further disruptive political revolution in the near term.”

In a filing with the SEC, Weatherford added it would have to delay its annual report, saying fourth quarter earnings would have to be adjusted, citing past and fourth quarter earnings “totalling approximately $500 million for the periods from 2007 to 2010."

Accounting problems centered around “an error in determining the tax consequences of intercompany amounts over multiple years.”

Weatherford was trading at $20.92, falling $2.60, or 11.05 percent, as of 12:27 PM EST.

Weatherford (NYSE:WFT) Weighed Down by Higher Costs

Weatherford International (NYSE:WFT) was among the few of its peers to miss fourth quarter estimates, as higher costs weighed on the company.

FBR says, "In a quarter where peers handily beat expectations, Weatherford missed 4Q10 estimates on higher costs. We maintain our rating based on the company's disappointing quarter, preferring companies with more leverage to the North American pressure pumping business, such as Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL)(Outperform). We also believe management's $2.30 EPS target for 2011 is a bit on the aggressive side, and we prefer to be more conservative in our estimate."

FBR Capital reiterates a "Market Perform" rating on Weatherford International (WFT), which was trading at $22.82, up $0.96, or 4.39 percent, as of 1:06 PM EST. FBR raised their price target on Weatherford from $22 to $26.