Analyst Update: Symantec Corporation, GenMark Diagnostics, Inc, and Wells Fargo & Co

Analysts are weighing in on software stock Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC), biotech GenMark Diagnostics, Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK), and finance stock Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on SYMC, GNMK, and WFC.

• SYMC is up 1.5% at $25.24, after UBS raised its price target to $28 from $25, saying the stock was poised to improve its competitive position in the cyber sector. The software stock is up 71% since hitting a nearly two-year low of $14.74 in mid-January, and notched a decade-plus high earlier this week. Option buyers are likely celebrating after this announcement, given Symantec Corporation's 50-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is in the 99th percentile of its annual range, with 11 calls bought to open for every put during the past 10 weeks.
  
  
• GNMK is among the biggest gainers on the Nasdaq, currently up 19.6% at $10.55, following an upgrade to "outperform" from "market perform" by Cowen and Company, which also raised its price target to $17 from $10 – a 61% premium on GNMK's current price, and roughly double yesterday's close. The analysts attributed the upbeat attention to encouraging channel checks for GenMark's respiratory test, Eplex, in Europe, and said clinical trials in the U.S. will likely kick off soon. GNMK is now up 35% so far this year, with the shares seemingly having found a level of support near the $8 level since early June. There's probably some short sellers kicking rocks, with 11.8% of  GenMark Diagnostics, Inc's float currently sold short -- an amount that would take over 11 days of trading to cover, at GNMK's average daily volume.
  
  
• WFC is down 1.7% at $45.38, as bank stocks sink with Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) and amidst continued blowback from its fraudulent account scandal, with the firm now facing a hearing in D.C. In the wake of the stock's latest woes -- and activist Bart Naylor calling for the company to consider a breakup -- Atlantic Equities cut WFC to "underweight." WFC now sits just a chip-shot above its two-year low of $44.50 -- tagged just after the "Brexit" vote -- and down over 16% since the beginning of 2016. Still, 13 of 23 analysts rate the shares a "buy" or better, with only two "sell" or worse ratings on the books. A slew of additional downgrades could create a headwind for the already-struggling Wells Fargo & Co.