Analyst Update: LinkedIn, Puma Biotech, Cliffs Natural

Analysts are weighing in today on professional network LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), drugmaker Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI), and commodities concern Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on LNKD, PBYI, and CLF.

• This morning, Raymond James upgraded LNKD to "strong buy" from "market perform," prompting a 3.1% increase in the shares, last seen at $231.84. The gain brings LinkedIn Corp's year-over-year growth to 6.6%. However, many traders remain skeptical of the stock, with 7.4% of LNKD's float sold short, representing over six sessions' worth of buying power, at its average daily trading rate. Elsewhere, the equity has the approval of the brokerage bunch -- 18 analysts rate it a "buy" or better, with nine others doling out "holds," and zero "sells" to be found.


• PBYI is up 9.7% at $213.44, after RBC -- which weighed in on several pharmaceutical names -- initiated coverage with an "outperform" rating and a $282 price target. This projection represents a 32.1% increase from the equity's current perch -- lofty expectations for a stock that has underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 25 percentage points in the past three months. Regardless, call buying has run rampant in Puma Biotechnology Inc's options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), PBYI's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 7.47 ranks in the 91st percentile of its annual range. However, with 11.2% of the security's float sold short, some of this call buying may have been the work of short sellers hedging against any upside.


• CLF is down 7% at $7.99, after Goldman Sachs slashed its price target to $7 from $9 and kept its "neutral" opinion. The equity has now shed 58.7% in the past 52 weeks. In response, bears have stepped up, with 52% of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc's float sold short, which would take over seven days to repurchase, at its normal trading pace. The analyst community is also in the bears' corner, as 11 of the 12 covering brokerage firms rate the stock a "hold" or worse.