UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Maintains Buy, Lowers PT to $65 on Athenahealth

Stifel Nicolaus reiterates its Buy rating on Athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) and lowers its price target to $65 from $75 as it believes current stock weakness resulting from Thursday's disappointing guidance provides a good entry for new investors.

Stifel Nicolaus says, "Despite all of the long term positive attributes, the company's 2012 guidance overshadowed the entire day. In the short term, the company will be ramping up investments in order to position itself for continued strong top line growth. Given the disappointing guidance, the shares sold off sharply. While we understand the short term impact on the stock's valuation, longer term, we believe shareholders should use the weakness as a buying opportunity."

ATHN closed at $49.04 per share on Thursday.