Analyst Upgrades: Halozyme Therapeutics, Nike, EMC Corp

Analysts are weighing in today on drugmaker Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO), apparel designer Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), and tech titan EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on HALO, NKE, and EMC.

• HALO got slammed yesterday, losing 5% to sit at $18.22, as a number of biotechs got burned. Today, however, the shares are poised to jump 2.6% at the open, after Barclays initiated coverage with an "overweight" rating and $27 price target -- in uncharted territory. On the sentiment front, short sellers are rolling the dice on additional losses for Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., with 15.5% of its float sold short -- or nine days' worth of trading, at typical volumes. This, despite the stock's brow-raising 88.8% year-to-date gain.


• Canaccord Genuity bumped its price target on NKE to $109 from $104, but the stock is pointed 1% lower pre-market, set to dip with the broader equities market. Longer term, it's been a solid year for the shares, which have tacked on over 21% to trade at $116.56 -- and are a chip-shot from their record high of $117.72, touched in early August. Things could get interesting for Nike Inc later this week, as the company is slated to report earnings Thursday evening. Ahead of this key event, option bears have been circling. NKE's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 1.15 ranks just 2 percentage points from a 12-month peak.


• EMC is also in the red ahead of the bell, despite Goldman Sachs starting coverage on the stock with a "buy" opinion. The decision is curious, given the equity's nearly 19% year-to-date loss. However, optimism among the brokerage bunch is far from unusual. Two-thirds of analysts tracking EMC Corporation have doled out "buy" or better assessments, with not a single "sell" rating to be found. What's more, the stock's consensus 12-month price target of $29.39 stands at a 21.7% premium to last night's close at $24.15.

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