Symantec (SYMC: sentiment, chart, options) is down more than 3% this afternoon following a downgrade from Friedman Billings Ramsey, moving the shares from "outperform" to "market perform." The firm stated that "With shares up 25% year-to-date and some potential macro headwinds ahead that could temper near-term growth expectations, we see modest share appreciation over the coming quarters." However, the brokerage firm also commented that "...we believe the June quarter (FY 1Q09) is tracking generally in line with Street expectations, we believe shares are already baking in this good news, which limits significant upside in the near term."

While the shares have tacked on more than 25% since the start of 2008, they had been pulling back since reaching a near-term peak near 22 on May 30. Since that high, the security has shed more than 11% under resistance at their 10-day and 20-day moving averages. In fact, SYMC is poised to close its first week below support at its 10-week moving average since mid-April.

Wall Street's sentiment toward the shares is relatively grim. According to Zacks, the firm has earned 5 "buy" ratings, 13 "holds," and 1 "sell." Meanwhile, short sellers could be putting pressure on the security as the number of shorted SYMC shares jumped by 15% during the most recent reporting period. Should this activity continue it could keep the security locked in a downtrend.