Analyst Upgrades: Eli Lilly and Co, Boston Scientific Corporation, and Exxon Mobil Corporation

Analysts are weighing in on drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), and energy giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on LLY, BSX, and XOM.

• LLY is slightly higher ahead of the open, after Leerink raised its price target on the stock to $93 from $90 -- right above LLY's 14-year high of $92.85 from mid-September. The shares settled at $80.70 on Wednesday, up 17% on the year, but it appears Eli Lilly and Co option traders are positioning themselves for a downside move. The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands at 1.86, outranking 94% of all readings from the past year. If some of these bearish traders start to hit the exits, it could spark an upward move for LLY. 

• BSX fell 4.2% on Wednesday to close at $18.01, after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed limited coverage reimbursement for one of the company's heart devices. Regardless, Citigroup started coverage on the stock with a "buy" opinion this morning, and gave it a $23 price target -- territory not charted in nearly a decade. Boston Scientific Corporation is an outperformer, though, picking up almost 36% in 2015. As a result, option traders have targeted calls over puts. BSX's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) stands at 0.51, ranking in the 34th annual percentile. In other words, short-term speculators are more call-skewed than normal. 

• Wednesday's session was tough on oil stocks, and today may not be better amid the commodity's extended slide, as XOM is pointed 1.3% lower in electronic trading, despite a $7 price-target hike to $86 at HSBC. At $81.62, the shares are back below their 20-day moving average, a level that applied pressure earlier in 2015. In the meantime, option traders have changed their previously bullish tune. Exxon Mobil Corporation's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX is now 2.93 -- higher than 85% of all similar readings from the past 12 months.