Analyst Upgrades: Oracle Corporation, Comcast Corporation, and Apple Inc.

Analysts are weighing in today on enterprise software firm Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), media company Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), and iPad parent Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ORCL, CMCSA, and AAPL.

• ORCL, which will report earnings after the closing bell, saw its rating upped to "buy" from "neutral" at SunTrust Robinson. This is a bold bet for a stock that's lost 15.5% year-to-date at $37.99, but the upgrade has boosted it 1.2% in pre-market trading. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Oracle Corporation has faced a rush of bearish attention recently. During the last 10 days, speculators have bought to open 5.6 puts for every call, with the resultant put/call volume ratio registering at the top of its annual range.


• CMCSA announced earlier that it plans to create an enterprise services business, directed toward selling Internet and phone plans to Fortune 1000 companies. The news was met with a price-target hike to $78 from $72 at Wunderlich Securities. On the charts, Comcast Corporation is sitting just below its year-to-date breakeven level, at $57.13 -- but closed atop its 20-day moving average yesterday for the first time since early August. Option traders, however, remain unconvinced. CMCSA's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.20 ranks in the top quartile of all readings taken in the past year.


• JMP Securities raised its price target on AAPL to $160 from $150, representing expected upside of 37.6% to last night's close at $116.28. This bullish brokerage attention is far from unusual. Nearly two-thirds of covering analysts rate Apple Inc. a "buy" or better, with not a single "sell" rating to be found. Also, the stock's consensus 12-month price target sits at $145 -- and in record-high territory. Technically speaking, AAPL has been fighting back since hitting an annual low of $92 in late August, during the broad-market mayhem.

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