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Friday Afternoon's Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Gilead, Goldman Sachs, Kroger, Raymond James, and More

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Markets turned higher on Friday after facing down a choppy week of trading. The charge higher into the weekend was led by the tech sector and the Nasdaq up about 1.5%. A strong earnings showing from Apple helped feed the optimism, but there are some broader concerns about the economy with inflation coming in hot.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Friday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on AT&T, Chewy, Fisker, Intel, Las Vegas Sands, Marathon and more.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): New Street upgraded to a Neutral rating from Sell with a $165 price target. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a Buy rating and raised the price target to $199 from $184. Shares were trading around $168 on Friday, and the 52-week range is $116.21 to $182.94.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM): DA Davidson upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral and cut the price target to $75 from $110. Shares were trading at around $58 on Friday. The 52-week range is $46.50 to $176.65.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD): Argus upgraded to a Buy rating from Hold. The 52-week trading range is $61.39 to $74.12, and shares traded near $68 apiece.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS): Odeon downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy. Shares were trading around $343 on Friday, and the 52-week range is $270.62 to $426.16.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): Citigroup downgraded to a Sell rating from Neutral and cut the price target to $42 from $47. The stock was trading around $43 on Friday, and the consensus target price is $45.80.

Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE: NLSN): Truist downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy and cut the price target to $22 from $25. Shares were trading around $18 on Friday, and the consensus target price is $24.64.

Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF): Seaport Research Partners upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral with a $125 price target. Shares were trading around $102 on Friday, and the 52-week range is $65.73 to $110.36.

ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD): RBC Capital Markets upgraded to a Sector Perform rating from Underperform and raised the price target to $241 from $234. The 52-week trading range is $179.37 to $301.34, and shares were last seen trading near $212.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): Citigroup upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral and raised the price target to $240 from $230. Shares were trading around $213 on Friday. The 52-week range is $139.11 to $239.86.

Given Warren Buffet’s proclivity for only owning stock of companies that he understands inside and out, five of his top picks with big, dependable dividends make sense now for growth and income investors worried about the potential for a steep market decline.

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