Analyst Update: Cisco, Michael Kors, Infinera Corp

Analysts are weighing in today on networking name Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), lifestyle brand Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS), and optical services provider Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ:INFN). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on CSCO, KORS, and INFN.

• A price-target bump from Goldman Sachs to $34 from $29 has helped CSCO stay in positive territory today, up 0.9% at $27.30. The brokerage firm also reiterated its "buy" rating on the company, which has earned the praise of brokerage firms by adding 22.4% year-over-year. In fact, 72% of covering analysts have handed out "buy" or better recommendations. However, Cisco Systems, Inc.'s 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 0.82 ranks in the 83rd annual percentile, implying that options traders have been buying to open puts over calls at a faster-than-normal rate. While some of this activity could be the work of shareholders hedging against any downward movement, there's still a chance that an exodus of bearish speculators could propel the shares higher.


• KORS is floundering in annual-low territory today, last seen 10.4% south of breakeven at $65.42, after Credit Suisse smacked it with a price target cut to $79 from $103, and downgraded it to "neutral" from "outperform." Earlier, the shares also bottomed at $65.12. This is more of the same for a stock that has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) in the past three months by 7 percentage points. Michael Kors Holdings Ltd could fall further, should its technical issues continue. At the moment, seven covering brokerage firms rate it a "buy" or better, leaving plenty of room for additional analyst downgrades. Elsewhere, rival Coach Inc (NYSE:COH) purchased Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC.


• INFN is moving lower today, dropping 7.5% so far to trade at $13.24. The slide can be attributed to Goldman Sachs, which weighed in on the stock (among several other communication names) by removing it from its "conviction buy" list. The brokerage firm did maintain its "buy" recommendation, however -- possibly due to the equity's technical tenacity, as it has beaten out the SPX by over 41 percentage points in the past three months. Despite its positive performance, Infinera Corp. continues to be targeted by short sellers -- over 12% of its float is sold short, which would take nearly two weeks to buy back, at its average daily trading volume.