24/7 Wall St. normally covers research and analyst calls each morning of the week.  After reviewing these, there always turn out to be some insightful research calls that stand well apart from the crowd of routine upgrades and downgrades.  Some may even be dubious calls or may be very negative research expectations on a company. 

The top analyst calls of this last week were in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO), Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), Netflix. Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), and finally in The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB).

We have included the rating summary and a brief description on each call, as well as having added color or given background data on each if applicable.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) blew the doors off the hinges but there was one new call which stood out.  Brian White of Ticonderoga became the “street high” target with a $666 price target. That will make it the biggest market cap of all companies and then some if it comes about.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was an interesting call from Argus this week with a very high price target.  The firm reiterated a Buy and a $24 target, implying close to 50% upside in the largest networking equipment player.  It seems hard to fathom, but that was one call after the restructuring news.

Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) saw its post-IPO quiet period end earlier this last week.  The rating initiations were as follows:

• Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse;
• Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs;
• Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley;
• Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) had nothing short of a just awful week as it was deemed that Benlysta sales were soft.  Shares hit a 52-week low on Friday of $21.21.  Leerink Swann defended the stock with a “buy on weakness” call on Friday afternoon.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) is a valuation hat trick by our count and apparently we are not alone.  J.P.Morgan cut the rating to Neutral from Overweight early this last week now that shares are above $100 again.  It seems that Google+ is a challenge for Facebook but may be an actual threat to LinkedIn.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) was added to the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs this week.  The company has not been without problems but what is interesting is that this coming at a time when Monsanto has recovered 50% from its lows already over the last year.  The target went to $96 from $80, implying close to 30% upside remaining.  This may be a “Johnny Come Late” call.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is still more than 15% off of highs and its sector may be in a shadow right now, but on Wednesday came an upgrade when many tech analysts are cutting shares.   S&P Equity Research raised its rating outlook to Strong Buy on the storage player.

Netflix. Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) has earnings this coming week and we saw one more round of caution arise.  Shares are now about 10% down from highs.  The rating was cut to “Sector Perform” at Pacific Crest early this last week.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) was beaten like a lazy cart-mule this week after earnings.  The huge run that had been seen was just not going to accommodate lackluster earnings like we saw.  After a 20%+ drop, R.W. Baird stepped out on a limb and raised its rating to Outperform when other analysts were downgrading their ratings or when they were lowering the price targets handily.  Wunderlich Securities joined in on the analyst upgrade the following day and gave a “Buy” rating.

The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) has been battered and beaten and the company can use any help it can get.  The troubled retailer lost the equivalent of one more “SELL” rating this week when shares were raised to ‘Neutral’ at Janney Capital.  Teh call had no significant impact but ma be the start of a reversal or more neutral bias here.

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JON C. OGG

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