Platinum’s Stock Stumbles on Downgrade

Irvine-based Platinum Software Corp.’s stock slumped 15% on Friday amid heavy trading, as two financial analysts unexpectedly downgraded the shares. The maker of company management software saw its shares fall $1.31 to $7.25, after analyst Alex Kotlar at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette downgraded Platinum from “buy” to “market perform” and Robert D. Kugel, an analyst with First Albany Corp., lowered his rating to “buy” from “accumulate.” About 1.8 million shares traded on Friday, nearly triple the average daily volume.