Government Motors is No Longer

Government Motors is No Longer. The U.S. government has sold its remaining 31.1M shares in General Motors (GM) for $9.2B. Because of the government ownership some had called the company Government Motors. The sale ends restrictions on executive pay and would allow the payment of dividends and share buybacks. The wisdom of the sale at this time is being questioned since the sale netted only $39B from an initial investment of $49.5B. The total loss to U.S. taxpayers will be over $10.5B.

Upgrades:

Broadcom (BRCM): Charter Equity raised their rating from Market Perform to Buy.

Celgene (CELG): Credit Suisse raised their rating from Neutral to Outperform.

Johnson Controls (JCI): RBC Capital raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick and placed a target price of $61.00 on the company.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY): S&P raised their rating from 3 Stars to 4 Stars.

United Rentals (URI): RBC Capital raised their rating from Outperform to Top Pick and placed a target price of $85.00 on the company.

Downgrades:

Quest Diagnostics (DGX): Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered their rating from Buy to Underperform and lowered their target price from $64.00 to $55.00.

Old Dominion Freight (ODLF): Longbow lowered their rating from Buy to Neutral.

Tenneco (TEN): RBC Capital lowered their rating from Top Pick to Outperform and placed a target price of $66.00 on the company.

Tyson Foods (TSN): Miller Tabak lowered their rating from Buy to Hold and lowered their target price from $35.00 to $33.00.

Coverage Initiated:

IMAX (IMAX): Ascendiant Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and target price of $32.00.

Papa John’s International (PZZA):  Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $86.00.

Rambus (RMBS): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating and target price of $13.00.

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Earning Reports:

AutoZone (AZO): Reported EPS of $6.29 beating estimates by +$0.01.

Burlington Stores (BURL): Reported EPS of -$0.05 in-line with estimates.

Toll Brothers (TOL): Reported EPS of $0.54 beating estimates by +$0.10.

Markets: 
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.1%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +1.2% to $98.49. Gold +1% to $1246.30. 

Europe: London +0.1%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.2%. 

Asia: Japan -0.3% to 15611. Hong Kong -0.3% to 23744. China -0.02% at 2237. India -0.3% at 21256. 

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