Equity Briefing: Upgrades and Downgrades for July 27th: ABC, ABX, ALU, AMGN, APKT, APRI, BCOR, BGG, BSX, BWA,

A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network (http://bit.ly/arndailyr) and Equity Briefing:

Robert W. Baird  upgraded shares of AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Robert W. Baird now has a $46.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $42.00.

Macquarie  downgraded shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE: ABX) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating.

Capstone  downgraded shares of Alcatel Lucent (NYSE: ALU) from a hold rating to a sell rating. Their analysts now have a $0.75 price target on the stock, down previously from $1.75.

Piper Jaffray  upgraded shares of Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating.

Raymond James  downgraded shares of Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating.

Pacific Crest  downgraded shares of Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating.

Lazard Capital  initiated coverage on shares of Apricus Biosciences (NASDAQ: APRI). They issued a buy rating on the stock.

Benchmark Co.  raised its price target on shares of Blucora Inc (NASDAQ: BCOR) from $17.00 to $20.00. They have a buy rating on the stock.

Raymond James  upgraded shares of Briggs & Stratton Corp (NYSE: BGG) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating.

Northland Securities  downgraded shares of Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. Their analysts now have a $5.50 price target on the stock, down previously from $7.50.

Gabelli  upgraded shares of BorgWarner Inc (NYSE: BWA) from a hold rating to a buy rating.

Deutsche Bank  downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) from a buy rating to a hold rating. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

BB&T  downgraded shares of CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Needham & Company  reiterated its buy rating on shares of Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHR).

William Blair  downgraded shares of CRA International (NASDAQ: CRAI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

Tudor Pickering  downgraded shares of Carbo Ceramics (NYSE: CRR) from a buy rating to an accumulate rating.

Pacific Crest  downgraded shares of Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating.

Global Hunter Securities  downgraded shares of Clayton Williams Energy Inc (NASDAQ: CWEI) from an accumulate rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $50.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $93.00.

Barclays Capital  downgraded shares of Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI) from an underweight rating to an equalweight rating.

Morgan Stanley  downgraded shares of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) from an overweight rating to an equalweight rating.

Stifel Nicolaus  downgraded shares of Equifax (NYSE: EFX) from a buy rating to a hold rating.

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