Shares of banking giant Barclays were performing well on Wednesday morning, helped by an upgrade from Investec which recommends investors to build positions following the stock's recent underperformance."An interesting day for an upgrade?...but any further sell-off today offers a clear opportunity," said analyst Ian Gordon. Nevertheless, the broker's sceptical medium-term view on the company is unchanged - "profitable, defensively positioned but low returns". Investec's 2013 return on equity [forecast] is 7.6% compared with the company's own 13% target.Nomura has maintained its buy rating and 2,700p target price for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell saying that while the investment case is very much second-half weighted, the year-to-date underperformance and first quarter results should provide catalysts to the stock.Shell has underperformed the European market and the oil sector by 15% and 8%, respectively, in 2012 so far. Meanwhile, the broker argues that there are increasingly fewer attractive stories or entry points elsewhere in 'Big Oil'.Panmure Gordon has reiterated its sell recommendation and 348p target price for recruitment firm Michael Page International, despite remaining fans of the agency's long-term prospects."First quarter results from Michael Page show some decent progress at the gross [profit] level, though give us little clarity on how the year is likely to pan out. Visibility remains limited and macro pressure suggests to us little prospect for market improvements in 2012, meaning over-optimism at current levels regarding the prospects for any bounce back," the analysts Paul Jones and Mike Allen.BC