Market Insider

Early movers: Biogen, Staples, Pfizer & more

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Take a look at some of Monday's early movers:

Biogen—Stifel downgraded the stock to "hold," stating that the pharmaceutical company has reached a reasonable price target for the next 12 months.

Staples—UBS upgraded the stock to "buy," noting a favorable risk and reward proposition. The investment bank thinks the office supplies retailer will "more likely than not" be able to close its acquisition of Office Depot.

Pfizer—Jefferies added the pharmaceutical company to its "Franchise Picks" list, noting it expects the firm to show significant appreciation over the next one to two years based on better-than-expected launch of breast cancer drug Ibrance. The investment bank also saw potential for more merger and acquisition activity.

Lululemon—Canaccord Genuity decreased the price target to $55 from $58, stating a weak start to the year will lead to cautious orders, followed by cautious guidance. The firm retains a "hold" rating on the athleticwear retailer.

Freshpet—Goldman Sachs added the natural pet food brand to its "Conviction Buy List" with a price target of $23.

Store Capital—Goldman Sachs added the REIT to its "Conviction Buy List" and increased the price target 50 cents to $26.50, citing improved cost of capital.

Cliffs Natural Resources announced it will sell Chromite assets in Canada to a local mining company, Noront Resources, for $20 million.

Cloud companies EMC and NetApp were downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight" by Piper Jaffray, citing greater competition in the public cloud and next generation storage vendors.

Tenet Healthcare and United Surgical Partners International (USPI) will combine to create the largest provider of ambulatory surgery in the United States in a cash and debt transaction valued at $1.93 billion.

Reuters contributed to this report.