Analyst Upgrades: Adobe Systems, Philip Morris, Whiting Petro

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE),Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), and Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL)

Karee Venema

Mar 23, 2016 at 9:13 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on software company Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE), tobacco firm Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), and oil-and-gas stock Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ADBE, PM, and WLL.

Analysts continue to wax optimistic on ADBE, following last week's standout earnings report. The latest bullish brokerage note comes from Deutsche Bank, which boosted its price target on ADBE to $120 from $110 -- representing a 30% premium to last night's close at $92.56. The shares have been on fire recently, up 30% from their Feb. 8 annual low of $71.27, and fresh off Friday's record peak of $98.00. Option traders have been growing more bullish, too. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Adobe Systems Incorporated's 10-day call/put volume ratio has jumped to 1.37 from 0.95 in the past two weeks, and now sits in the 65th annual percentile.

Cowen and Company raised its price target on PM to $109 from $98, while underscoring its "outperform" rating -- as takeover talks among its sector peers heat up. This echoes the generally bullish bias seen among the brokerage bunch, as 64% of those covering the stock maintain a "buy" or better rating. The short-term options crowd, meanwhile, is more put-heavy than usual, per PM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.96 -- in the 70th percentile of its annual range. Technically, shares of Philip Morris International Inc. hit a record high of $99.33 last Thursday, and closed last night not far from here, at $96.74.

WLL is pointed 2.2% lower in electronic trading, as declining oil prices overshadow a price-target hike to $9 from $5 from Deutsche Bank. Since hitting a record low of $3.35 in late February, the shares of WLL have bounced 144% to trade at $8.16. While analysts have begun taking note, speculators are still skeptical. Not only does the equity's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.02 sit in 76th annual percentile, but more than one-quarter of Whiting Petroleum Corp's float is sold short.

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