Analysts Upgrade Drug Stocks HZNP and BMY

Analysts go overweight on HZNP and BMY shares

Two names enjoying positive analyst attention this morning are drug concerns Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY). Here's how the shares of HZNP and BMY stocks are trading this morning following the upbeat brokerage notes.

HZNP stock was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at BMO, which also lifted its price target to $36 from $29. This puts BMO alongside the rest of the analysts in coverage on the pharmaceutical name, as seven of the eight had "buy" or "strong buy" recommendations coming into today. BMO's price target is slightly more bullish than the Street average, though, since the consensus 12-month price target is $33.60.

Horizon Pharma was last seen trading down 0.5% at $26.42. The stock is up almost 36% year-to-date and recently found support at the $23 level, site of the February highs, suggesting a layer of technical support is in place.

BMY stock received an upgrade to "overweight" from "neutral" at Atlantic Equities, which views the shares as a value opportunity following their one-year decline of 22.5%. Analysts were basically split coming into today, with five "strong buys" on the books, compared to six "holds."

Bristol-Myers Squibb has managed a 0.8% gain out of the gate to trade at $46.85. Many short sellers have been moving in on the stock, with short interest rising 11.7% in the last reporting period. More than nine days' worth of buying power is now dedicated to short interest, based on average daily trading volumes.