Stocks quoted in this article:
Analysts are weighing in today on social networking site Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB - 27.71), banking giant Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - 39.46), and software concern Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL - 32.88). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes.
- FB scored a price-target hike to $33 from $28 at Cantor Fitzgerald this morning, amid reports the company will be revealing a new application next year that enables streaming video advertisements to appear in users' newsfeeds. The equity has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 44 percentage points during the past two months, yet near-term bears have been gravitating toward FB lately. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at 1.21, confirming puts outnumber calls among options expiring in the next three months.
- C -- which has climbed about 52% during the past year -- was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Morgan Stanley ahead of the opening bell. Given the stock's technical prowess, it's no surprise that most of the covering analysts maintain high expectations for C. The security boasts 14 "strong buys" and three "buy" endorsements, compared to four "holds," and three "strong sell" suggestions. Meanwhile, the equity's average 12-month price target stands at $43.60, representing expected upside of about 10.5% to yesterday's closing price of $39.46.
- Up more than 28% year-to-date, ORCL was flooded with bullish attention today, after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings post-close yesterday. Susquehanna raised its price target to $40 from $38, while Jefferies, Lazard, Wedbush, Credit Agricole, Oppenheimer, FBR, Bernstein, Raymond James, and Stifel Nicolaus also issued upward price-target adjustments. Speaking of bullish attention, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows a 20-day call/put volume ratio of 1.45 for ORCL, indicating calls bought to open have easily outstripped puts during the past month.
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