Analyst Upgrades: Weight Watchers International, Inc., Cytokinetics, Inc., and General Motors Company

Analysts are weighing in on dieting specialist Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW), biotech Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK), and automaker General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on WTW, CYTK, and GM.

• WTW is set to extend Friday's post-earnings momentum, with the shares headed 8.2% higher ahead of the bell. Bolstering the equity is news of a 5.7% stake from Point72 Asset Management LP (subscription required) -- run by billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen -- revealed late Friday, marking yet another high-profile investment for Weight Watchers International, Inc. Adding fuel to the fire, Credit Suisse more than doubled its price target, to $10 from $4, though that still represents a more than 50% discount to WTW's closing price of $22.89 on Friday. On the charts, WTW has soared 48.8% in November, but could find a speed bump in the $25 region -- home to its year-to-date breakeven level. Still, a short squeeze could help the stock's cause. Short interest accounts for 57.5% of WTW's available float, representing nearly 21 days' of pent-up buying demand at the stock's average pace of trading.

• CYTK is pointed 6.8% higher -- and headed for fresh annual highs -- after an upbeat presentation on its experimental heart drug with Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). Following Sunday's presentation, JMP Securities hiked its price target on CYTK to $16 from $14, while Roth Capital lifted its target to $22 from $18 -- more than twice CYTK's closing price of $10.82 on Friday. So far in 2015, Cytokinetics, Inc. shares have added 35.1%, and touched an annual peak of $10.92 last week. As with WTW, though, the equity remains plagued by pessimism. It would take more than eight sessions to buy back all the shorted CYTK shares, at the stock's average daily trading volume -- plenty of fuel for a short-covering boost.

• GM is set to open 1% higher, after settling at $35.75 on Friday, as Barron's waxed optimistic (subscription required) on the Detroit darling. The publication said GM "shares could hit $48, or eight times earnings, for a return of about 40%" by 2017, and said the stock should be up "far more" than 2.4% year-to-date. During the past three months, GM has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 13 percentage points. Still, six out of 13 analysts maintain tepid "hold" ratings, and option buyers have picked up General Motors Company puts over calls at a faster-than-usual clip during the past two weeks. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the security's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.57 stands higher than 68% of all other readings from the past year. Should GM continue to flex some muscle, more positive analyst attention or a mass exodus of option bears could propel the shares even higher.