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VeriSign (VRSN) was downgraded today by analysts at Wedbush Morgan and the stock is now at $21.55, down $0.33 (-1.51%) on volume of 4,196,648 shares traded. The analysts downgraded th...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

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Comverge, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV) was today downgraded by Ardour Capital to Hold from Buy, and reduced their price target to $11.50 from $17. COMV is now down 4.81% at $10.09. In the last six months, COMV is up only 3%.

Chordiant Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRD) was today downgraded by Wedbush Morgan to Neutral from Out Perform and reduced its price target from $4.75 to $3.50. Now, CHRD is down 9.16% to $2.92.

Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) fell 1.23% to $21.61 on 1.45 million shares after Wedbush Morgan downgraded VRSN to Neutral from Outperform and also reduced its price target from $25 to $23.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) fell 1.30% to $48.46 on 834K shares in the morning trading hours. Today Stifel Nicolaus downgraded CSX to Hold from Buy. So far this year, CSX gained over 49%.

Bank of Florida Corporation (NASDAQ: BOFL) plummeted 19.60% to $0.800 after Stifel Nicolaus downgraded BOFL to Sell from Buy. BOFL also made a 52 week low at $0.68.

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Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

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There are times in the market when the action make little sense. For example, most investors probably expected the market to decline when the Labor Dept. reported that the Unemployment Rate hit the highest level since 1983. However, we just might be ent[More...]

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 9, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Avnet, Inc. (AVT), Arrow Electronics (ARW), VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), Patterson-UTI Inc. (PTEN) and Nabors Industries (NBR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Avnet Tops Estimates

Avnet, Inc. (AVT) recently reported revenues of $4.36 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, down 3.1% from a year ago. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rates, revenues declined 0.6%.

Management stated that the impact of global slowdown led to the year-over-year decline, but the business environment is improving.

Earlier, rival Arrow Electronics (ARW) reported a small profit and provided a disappointing forecast. Profit narrowed significantly at Arrow due to restructuring charges. The company provided a conservative guidance for the fourth quarter, due to limited visibility.

VeriSign Beats Forecast

Last night, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) reported revenues of $258 million from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2009.

Core businesses (Internet Infrastructure and Identity Services) generated revenues of $257 million, up 1% sequentially and up 6% year-over-year. Revenues from discontinued operations came in at $41 million.

Patterson Net Falls, but Beats View

Patterson-UTI Inc. (PTEN) reported a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss of 12 cents per share, reflecting a recovery in rig demand as customers prepare for ramped up drilling activities in 2010. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at a loss of 16 cents per share.

In the year-ago period, the company earned 69 cents per share. Revenue was down 71.1% year over year to $176.2 million. The negative comparisons compared to the year-ago period reflect lower drilling activity. The number of rigs operating during the quarter averaged 73 (70 located in the U.S. and 3 in Canada), compared to 276 average rigs operating in the third quarter of 2008. However, it was up from 63 rigs operating in the June quarter.

We remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Patterson-UTI, one of the largest onshore drillers. We believe that the current supply overhang in the natural gas market will continue to weigh on the company’s dayrates and margins during the next few quarters.

On the positive side, Patterson-UTI’s premium newbuild fleet and stellar financial health (free cash flow positive and a debt-free balance sheet) should help it weather the downturn better than its peers, such as Nabors Industries (NBR). Considering these factors, we believe that Patterson-UTI shares are fairly valued at current levels. As such, we see the stock performing in line with the broader market and rate it as Neutral.

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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BloggingStocks: Analyst upgrades: Keefe Bruyette upgraded Blackstone Group (BX) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q3 results and maintains an $18.50 price target on shares. Baird upgraded Astec (ASTE) to outperform from neutral ... Read more

Last night, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) reported revenues of $258 million from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2009. Core businesses (Internet Infrastructure and Identity Services) generated revenues of $257 million, up 1% sequentially and up 6% year-over-year. Revenues from discontinued operations came in at $41 million. Operating margin came in at 38.6%, marginally up from the [...]

(VRSN) VeriSign’s Earnings Beats Forecasts

Last night, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) reported revenues of $258 million from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2009. Core businesses (Internet Infrastructure and Identity Services) generated revenues of $257 million, up 1% sequentially and up 6% year-over-year. Revenues from discontinued operations came in at $41 million. Operating margin came in at 38.6%, marginally up from the [...]

($VRSN) VeriSign Beats Consensus Earnings Forecasts