Analyst Upgrades: Synergy, Celgene, and Microsoft

Analysts are weighing in on biotechs Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), as well as blue chip Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)​. Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SGYP, CELG, and MSFT.

• A fresh "buy" rating and $20 price target at Rodman and Renshaw has SGYP ready to take off this morning, with the shares 7% higher in electronic trading. With its close at $5.30 on Wednesday, the stock has nearly doubled in the past 12 months. However, Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc has trailed off since hitting a four-year high of $10.15 in early July, and short interest has exploded. More than one-fourth of SGYP's float is sold short, accounting for almost 19 days' worth of buying power, at average daily volumes. 


• CELG is positioned 1.5% higher ahead of the open, after J.P. Morgan Securities raised the stock to "overweight" from "neutral" in a note lucidly titled, "Too Cheap to Ignore." This bullish outlook matches the general bias on the Street, with 13 of 16 brokerage firms claiming the stock is a "buy" or better. Plus, Celgene Corporation's average 12-month price target of $149.59 represents upside of 38.3% to Wednesday's close at $108.17 -- and a trek into uncharted territory. For the year, CELG is 3.3% below breakeven. 


• MSFT is poised to benefit from an upgrade to "neutral" at BofA-Merrill Lynch this morning -- as well as news the company has buried the litigation hatchet with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). The security has gained 1.1% in pre-market action, as it looks to break out of its recent funk; the shares have been churning between $43 and $45 for the better part of a month, settling at $44.26 on Wednesday. Still, speculators have been gravitating toward the call side in Microsoft Corporation's options pits. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at 0.52, meaning call open interest nearly doubles put open interest among options that expire within three months. Additionally, this reading is lower than 99% of all others from the past year, signaling a greater-than-usual appetite for calls over puts.