Analyst Upgrades: Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc, Pandora Media Inc, and Transocean LTD

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc (AQXP), Pandora Media Inc (P), and Transocean LTD (RIG)

Oct 4, 2016 at 9:01 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on drugmaker Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AQXP), music discovery platform Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P), and offshore drilling stock Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AQXP, P, and RIG.

AQXP is poised to gap 7% higher at the open, after Leerink resumed coverage with an "outperform" rating and a $24 price target -- territory not charted in over a year. Assuming these gains materialize, it could be a bad day for short sellers. A lofty 30% of Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc's float is sold short, after jumping 19.2% in the latest reporting period. Technically speaking, AQXP has been red-hot since bottoming at $6.01 in late June, surging over 140% to trade at $14.52.

P was added to Goldman Sachs' "Americas Conviction" list, and saw its price target hiked to $19 from $17. As a result, the stock is pointed 3.5% higher in electronic trading, after settling at $14.16 on Monday. Longer term, shares of Pandora Media Inc have roughly doubled since their Feb. 12 lows just above $7, but options traders aren't buying the hype. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.92 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) represents an annual high. In other words, traders have been buying to open P puts over calls at an extreme rate in recent weeks.

Scotia Howard Weil raised its assessment of RIG to "sector outperform" from "sector perform," and boosted its price target to $14 from $12. The rare bullish note has the stock 2.3% higher ahead of the open, after it settled yesterday at $9.85. As was just mentioned, the brokerage crowd hasn't been impressed with Transocean LTD, with 19 of 21 analysts doling out a "hold" or worse opinion. Why? Perhaps it's because the shares have lost one-third of their value on a year-over-year basis.

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