Merrill Lynch has joined the chorus of brokers recommending Baltimore Technologies as a buy for investors. The firm, which has recently started to cover the stock, has kicked off by giving it a buy rating predicting the share price should rise to £4 sterling (£5.06) within 12 months. The Irish-based company is a leading provider of security solutions to allow companies to securely communicate and transact business over the Internet. The company has more than 300 customers worldwide and its largest customer is ABN-Amro which accounted for 15 per cent of the group's sales in 1998. It has relatively small sales in the US but has begun to build a sales and marketing presence there.