Analyst Upgrades: Square Inc, Nike Inc, and Mattel, Inc.

Analysts are weighing in on payment processor Square Inc (NYSE:SQ), retail interest Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), and toymaker Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SQ, NKE, and MAT. 

• SQ is trading 1.2% higher this morning, last seen at $12.09, after Jefferies, Barclays, J.P. Morgan Securities, and RBC all initiated coverage on the stock with four "buy" or equivalent ratings and price targets ranging from $14 to $15. Deutsche Bank and Stifel, meanwhile, launched coverage with "hold" ratings, and the former issued a $13 price target. Square Inc has now been trading publicly for more than three weeks, and although they're higher than their IPO price of $9, they've slimmed down since peaking at $14.78 on the first day of trading. So far, traders seem to be somewhat bearish on the stock. Nearly 19% of the SQ's available float is currently sold short, meaning that plenty of traders are betting against this rookie.  

• NKE is up 0.5% at $126.87, thanks to price-target hikes to $150 from $145 at Cowen and Company, and to $145 from $143 at Susquehanna. Nike Inc has added 31.3% so far in 2015, and just hit a new all-time high of $135.30 in late November. While Goldman Sachs recently removed the stock from its "Americas Conviction Buy" list, of the 24 analysts following NKE, 20 maintain "buy" or better ratings. Near-term options traders have been showing a preference for puts recently, however. NKE has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.42 -- higher than nearly three-quarters of readings from the past year. 

• MAT was last seen trading at $27.19, up 3.4%, after BMO raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" from "market perform," and its price target to $33 from $25 -- in annual-high territory. The company's Barbie brand spot "Imagine the Possibilities" was also recently selected by YouTube as one of this year's most iconic ads. Mattel, Inc. is sitting on a 12% loss for 2015, and some traders have been placing bearish bets recently, even though the stock has outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 10 percentage points over the last three months, climbing back from a five-year low of $19.45 in early October. More than 20% of MAT's total available float is currently sold short -- accounting for 11 days of trading, at the stock's typical volumes. Options traders are showing optimism, however. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Mattel has a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.67 -- higher than 84% of readings from the last 12 months.