Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Agnico-Eagle Mines, Biogen, Exelon, Meta Platforms, New York Times, Pulte, Snap, Vertex Pharma and More

Investing

Published: February 4, 2022 8:58 am

Last Updated: February 4, 2022 9:25 am

The futures were lower after so-so results from Amazon, which included a price hike in Amazon Prime membership, somewhat helped to counter a huge risk-off Thursday after dreadful numbers from companies like Meta Platforms. A much stronger than expected nonfarm payrolls report also failed to aid the futures. Yields moved higher, as there was selling across the Treasury curve, and West Texas Intermediate crude continued its climb, breaking through $90 a barrel.

One big positive for investors and the economy is that the surge of Omicron cases appears to be peaking and starting to fall. Also, the corporate stock buyback windows are starting to reopen, and that could put a supporting bid under the market. Some strategists even noted that stocks have performed reasonably well against an inflation backdrop and the prospect of continued rate hikes.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, February 4, 2022.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM): Barclays upgraded the gold-mining giant to Overweight from Equal Weight and bumped the $67 target price to $69. The consensus target is much higher at $93.55. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $48.14.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): Guggenheim upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $170 price objective. The consensus target is $213.95, and the stock was last seen at $142.51.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the biotech heavyweight to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered the $260 price target to $238. The consensus target is $272.90. The shares closed Thursday at $220.17.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy and lifted the target price to $106 from $102. The consensus target is $108.05. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $89.56, which was down over 3% for the day.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS): Zacks has picked this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst pointed out that this chip maker recently posted a solid beat and raise quarter. Shares most recently closed at $82.40, and the consensus price target of $107.92 would be an all-time high.

Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $65 target price. Vertical Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 target, while Guggenheim began coverage at Neutral with a $51 target. The shares ended Thursday at $53.62.