Analysts Give Out "Buy" Ratings to Tech Giants

Mizuho is very bullish on MSFT and CRM

Analysts this morning have issued new notes on tech stocks Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM). Let's take a look at how Wall Street is viewing shares of AAPL, MSFT, and CRM.

It's been a big week for Apple shares, which just notched their highest close since early December. The stock is up another 1.3% today at $184.07, following a fresh "outperform" rating out of Cowen, along with a $220 price target. The bullish note mentioned growth in Apple's services business, upcoming product launches, and stock buybacks as potential tailwinds for the Dow component.

Traders should also monitor short interest on Apple, after the number of shares sold short increased by a shocking 143% in the last reporting period. Nearly 97 million shares are now sold short, or 4.4 times the average daily trading volume.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Mizuho said it has a positive view on the software sector as a whole, adding that just 15-20% of work done around the globe is on the cloud, and its top picks are Microsoft and Salesforce.com. For MSFT, Mizuho started coverage with a "buy" rating and $135 price target, offering nearly 18% upside from current levels. The stock was last seen slightly higher on the day at $114.60.

For Salesforce, it also received a "buy" rating and a price target of $185, well above its all-time high of $166.15 from March 1. The shares were last seen up 0.4% at $160.39, recently bouncing from the 50-day moving average.