Up/Downgrades (AKS, AMGN, ATHN, BAS, CCL, CEDC, DUF, FLT, KOS, LBTYA, LLTC, VOC, CVC, RIMM, SDT, SAP)

Published on Friday, 16 December 2011 08:48 Written by Danny Miller

New York, December 16^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS), the Ohio based steel company, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), the biotechnology company, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

AthenaHealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.

Basic Energy Services (NYSE:BAS) was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Dahlman Rose. The firm raised its target price to $25 from $21.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL), the cruise ship operator, was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC Securities. The firm raised its target price to $38 from $34.

Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ:CEDC) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Duff & Phelps (NYSE:DUF) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

FleetCor (NYSE:FLT) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Linear Technology Corp. (NASDAQ:LLTC), the maker of linear integrated circuits, was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm set its target price at $36.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

Downgrades

Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America Merrill.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), the maker of the Blackberry smartphone, was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.

SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE:SDT) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

SAP AG (NYSE:SAP), the provider of business management software, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill.