Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALTR, ADI, AVB, BIIB, KMX, CREE, EMC, IACI, LNCO, LINE, MYL, NTAP, NXPI, PMT, RIMM, RIGL, TASR, TKR, VMW, XLNX)

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall St. research calls this Thursday.

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) started at Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) reiterated Buy but raised target to $46 at Argus.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) raised to Market Perform at BMO.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) reiterated Buy and raised target to $160 at Argus.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) raised to Buy with $42 target at Goldman Sachs.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) started as Outperform at CLSA.

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

LinnCo LLC (NASDAQ: LNCO) started as Buy at Citi.

Linn Energy LLC (NASDAQ: LINE) resumed with Buy rating at Citi

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) reiterated Buy but raised 2012/2013 earnings estimates at Argus.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) started as Underperform at CLSA.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) reiterated Outperform with $27 target at Credit Suisse.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs (FULL CALL SUMMARY).

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: RIGL) started as Neutral at UBS.

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR) cut to Hold at Jefferies.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) started as Buy at CLSA.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) started at Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

JON C. OGG