Analyst Upgrades: FireEye, Symantec, and The Gap

Analysts are weighing in today on cybersecurity firms FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) and Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC), as well as apparel retailer Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on FEYE, SYMC, and GPS.

• Goldman Sachs boosted its price target on FEYE to $41 from $39. This comes after some strong price action on the charts, as the stock has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 14 percentage points over the last three months, and also tacked on a cool 7.2% yesterday. Additional bullish brokerage notes could be forthcoming, too, as eight out of 20 analysts covering FireEye Inc still rate the shares a "hold" or worse. In early trading, FEYE is up another 1.4% at $33.65.


• Sector peer SYMC also saw its price target upped by Goldman Sachs -- to $26 from $25. Technically speaking, the stock has surged since touching its most recent low of $21.66 in mid-October, and as recently as Dec. 26, Symantec Corporation hit an annual high of $26.69. However, negativity is still high among analysts, with 18 out of 20 handing out "hold" or worse assessments. Plus, SYMC's consensus 12-month price target of $25.28 is below the current price of $25.72. If the shares can sustain their momentum, another round of positive analyst attention could add fuel to their fire.


• Last night, GPS reported that same-store sales rose 3% in November and December, on a year-over-year basis, led by a strong performance by its Old Navy brand. This news was met with applause on Wall Street, as a trio of firms raised their price targets on the stock -- the most ambitious of which came from Baird, which lifted its target by $1 to $45, while maintaining its "neutral" opinion. Nevertheless, Gap Inc is 2.1% lower out of the gate at $42.21. Longer term, the shares have outperformed the broader SPX by 10 percentage points over the last two months. Accordingly, options traders have been betting bullishly on GPS. The stock's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 4.90 is higher than 86% of comparable readings from the previous 52 weeks.