Analyst Upgrades: Agios Pharma, Alibaba, Royal Gold

Analysts are weighing in on biotech Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AGIO), Chinese e-tailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), and precious metals stock Royal Gold, Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:RGLD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AGIO, BABA, and RGLD.

• AGIO is up 4.9% at $52.82, after the company revealed upbeat data on its AG-348 drug to treat PK deficiency -- which has helped the stock pare Friday's losses related to AG-519 studies. A duo of bullish brokerage ratings is also propelling AGIO higher, after Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold" and hiked its price target to $90 from $50, and J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded AGIO to "overweight." Although AGIO has lost half of its value year-over-year, it seems to have found a foothold atop its 50-day moving average. Short interest in the stock is elevated, with 19.9% of Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc's float sold short -- an amount that would take traders nearly two weeks of trading, and AGIO's average daily volume, to cover.
 

• BABA is down 1.1% at $75.09, ahead of today's corporate analyst meeting and amidst the latest bidding-war rumors for core Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) assets. The stock is shrugging off an upbeat analyst note, after Citigroup raised its price target to $98 from $95.60. BABA has found a foothold in the $74-$75 area -- home to its 200-day moving average -- although the shares have had difficulty surmounting the $82 mark (and year-to-date breakeven) in 2016. Still, 16 of 18 analysts rank BABA a "buy" or better, without a single "sell" to be found. 


• RGLD is down 0.2% at $65.44, despite a price-target hike to $66 from $60 by RBC. Royal Gold, Inc (USA) was just one of many gold stocks to rally last week, as June rate-hike expectations faded and global "Brexit" fears sparked "safe haven" demand. The stock is up 80% in 2016, and touched an annual high of $67.97 on Friday. As such, a short-term breather could be in the cards, as RGLD's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 69 toes the line of "overbought" territory. Bulls have been hot on the stock of late, with RGLD's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting at a staggering 23.3, higher than 98% of all other readings from the past year.