Analyst Update: Goldcorp, Pfizer, and Yahoo!

Analysts are weighing in today on gold producer Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG), pharmaceutical titan Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Internet heavyweight Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on GG, PFE, and YHOO.

• Last night, HSBC cut GG to "neutral" from "overweight," while raising its price target 30 cents to $25.30. The brokerage note, along with gold's dip, has sent the shares sliding 1.8% this afternoon to sit at $23.51. Although the stock has advanced more than 25% in 2015, many traders remain bearish on Goldcorp Inc. (USA), with its 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 0.51 ranking in the 77th percentile of its annual range. Elsewhere, the brokerage bunch isn't nearly as pessimistic on GG, with 10 of the 16 covering analysts rating the stock a "buy" or better, with only one "sell" rating on the books.


• PFE is up 1% to $32.78 this afternoon, following a price-target hike to $32 from $31 at BMO, which also reiterated its "market perform" rating. What's more, the pharmaceutical company --which will release its earnings data before the open tomorrow -- has beaten the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 8 percentage points over the last three months, and touched a 10-year high of $33.50 last week. Surprisingly, put buying is the popular choice in Pfizer Inc.'s options pits -- the equity's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.58 is a mere 18 percentage points away from an annual pessimistic peak. Considering PFE's long-term uptrend, though, some of those puts may have been purchased as hedges. However, the analyst community is still optimistic on PFE, with 67% of covering brokerage firms rating the stock a "buy" or better, with only one "sell" or worse recommendation to be found.


• YHOO has increased 0.8% to $49.35, even after FBR cut its price target by $4 to $56. However, the analysts maintained their "outperform" ranking. The Internet behemoth is now up 34.7% over the past 52 weeks, and will report its latest earnings data after the close tomorrow. Despite this positive price action, sentiment in Yahoo! Inc.'s options pits is nearing a pessimistic climax. The stock's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.52 is higher than all but 2% of all similar readings taken over the past year, and short-term bears are paying up to play YHOO ahead of earnings; the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 47% registers in the 64th percentile of its annual range.