McAfee shares higher after UBS upgrade; analyst calls investor concerns ‘overblown’

McAfee shares higher after UBS upgrade

NEW YORK — Shares of McAfee Inc. edged higher Monday as UBS upgraded the maker of computer security software, saying investor concerns over margins and Hewlett-Packard Co.’s acquisition of a competitor are “overblown.”

In a note to clients, UBS analyst Brent Thill said security stocks generally underperform coming out of a recession. McAfee’s shares have dropped about 12 percent over the past three months.

Now the stock looks fairly likely to rebound, he said, raising his rating to “Buy” from “Neutral.” He left his price target unchanged at $46.

Thill said investors overlooked a 12.5 percent rise in third-quarter bookings for the company’s consumer business, a positive sign for future revenue.

Additionally, he said Hewlett-Packard’s deal to acquire 3Com Corp., which has a competing security software offering, does not present a “meaningful threat” to McAfee’s reseller agreement with HP.

McAfee shares added 74 cents to $40.63 in afternoon trading. Shares earlier traded as high as $41.