Shuffle Master, Orexigen Therapeutics Rise Following Ratings Activity

Research reports from analysts can affect how a stock trades. If an analyst makes a particularly bullish or bearish call, a stock may trade in line with that rating. Below are two stocks that rose sharply following bullish analyst calls on Thursday.

At 5:53AM Thursday, Benzinga Pro

that Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on Shuffle Master

with a Buy rating and a price target of $18. Shares of Shuffle Master opened at $13.11 a share and topped out at an intraday high near $13.97 around 10:20 AM. That 50-minute move was around 6.6 percent.

Thursday morning, Benzinga Pro

that JP Morgan upgraded Orexigen Therapeutics

from Equal-weight to Overweight. The stock opened trading at around $5.53 per share and hit an intraday high of $5.94 around 1:36 PM. That price change represented an approximate 7.4 percent move.

Of eight other companies with new Thursday morning ratings changes or initiations, seven moved in line with their new ratings. One stock moved downward, as of the time of this writing, following an upgrade to Buy.