The futures trended higher Monday, after another rollercoaster trading day on Friday. All the major indexes made massive back and forth moves after the nonfarm payrolls shocked many across Wall Street, who expected the Omicron surge to shut down hiring. The major indexes ended higher, except for a tiny loss for the Dow Jones industrials.
The Treasury bond market saw another day of big selling as yields across the curve went higher, with both the 5-year and 10-year notes ending at the highest yields in a year. Oil continued its move higher with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude closing well over the $90 level. The consumer price index reading for January on Thursday will be this week’s biggest datapoint, with a forecast of 7.3%, versus December’s 7.0%.
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 Monday, February 7, 2022.
Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed the target price on the shares to $285 from $370. Evercore ISI reiterated an In Line rating and lowered its price target from $300 all the way to $200. BMO Capital Markets kept an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $258 from $209. The consensus target is $306.63. The stock closed up over 36% on Friday, at $231.67, after the company predicted a very positive fiscal-year revenue outlook.
BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BJ): Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of the popular retailer to Buy from Hold and lifted the target price to $74 from $69. The consensus price objective is $75.89, and the shares closed Friday at $59.85.
Buzzfeed Inc. (NASDAQ: BZFD): BofA Securities started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $5 target. The consensus target is $7.25. The shares closed Friday at $4.47, up over 5% on the day.
Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI): Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the health care heavyweight to Hold from Buy and dropped the price objective to $236 from $260. That compares with the $265.56 consensus price target and Friday’s closing print of $221.37.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): Raymond James reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the integrated energy giant and lifted the price objective to $120 from $107. Truist maintained a Buy rating and raised the target price to $115 from $11, while Wells Fargo kept an Overweight rating and hiked its $95 target to $114. The stock has a $97.51 consensus target, and the stock closed on Friday at $91.87.
Deckers Outdoors Inc. (NYSE: DECK): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed the $478 price objective to $358. Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and dropped the price target on the popular boots and clothing retailer to $450 from $525. BTIG Research reiterated a Buy rating, and it bumped up the $480 target price up to $487. The consensus target is $474.23. The final trade last Friday was at $303.71 a share, which was down almost 6% for the day.
Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL): Citigroup upgraded the venerable cosmetics and fragrance giant to Buy from Neutral and lifted the target price to $374 from $355. Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and slightly lowered its target price to $350 from $365, while JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating and cut the price target to $338 from $380. The consensus target is $372.75. The final trade on Friday was reported at $313.35, or up close to 4% for the day.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Barclays reiterated an Equal Weight rating and increased the target price to $364 from $355. UBS kept a Neutral rating and lowered its target to $340 from $370, while Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and dropped the price objective to $350 from $400. The consensus target is $367.14. Friday’s closing share price of $314.33 was up close to 6% for the day.
GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $90 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $119.67. The last trade on Friday was reported at $72.40, up a stunning 17% after some indicated a major short squeeze boosted the shares.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the chocolate and confection giant and bumped the $221 target price to $227, while Credit Suisse stayed with an Outperform rating and lifted the target to $227 from $214. The consensus target is $210.30. The stock closed on Friday at $202.78 a share.
24/7 Wall St.Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ): Keefe Bruyette’s downgrade was to Market Perform from Outperform, and it lowered the price target to $49 from $52. The consensus price objective is $52.88. The shares were last seen Friday at $41.28, down over 3% on the day.
ManTech International Corp. (NASDAQ: MANT): BofA Securities raised the stock to Buy from Underperform and has a $90 price target. The consensus target is $81.43. The shares had a massive day on Friday, closing up almost 10% at $80.73, and it tacked on an additional 13% in afterhours trading. Reports indicated co-founder George Perderson is looking into options for his controlling stake in the company, which could include a sale.
McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK): Deutsche Bank downgraded the medical products and services giant to Hold from Buy but lifted the target price to $270 from $262. The consensus target is $289.73, and the shares closed on Friday at $265.86.
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating on the stock and slightly raised the price target to $84 from $82. UBS kept a Buy rating and boosted their target on the shares to $98 from $92, while Citigroup kept a Neutral rating and sliced the price objective to $$78 from $90. The consensus target is $98, and the share closed out Friday trading at $73.18.
Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the target price to $249 from $244. The consensus target is up at $268.21. The shares were last seen on Friday at $217, up 10% after posting stellar earnings and revenues that beat estimates.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): Zacks has selected this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst says that the dividend yield of 3% is just one reason it is a top stock pick. The shares most recently closed at $53.00 and have a consensus price target of $60.76.
SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Outperform from Strong Buy and cut the target price to $48 from $63. Deutsche Bank lowered its Buy rating to Hold and slashed the price target to $39 from $65. The consensus target is $60.00. The last trade for Friday was posted at $29.47, down an incredible 23% even though earnings and revenues beat estimates.
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS): UBS kept a Neutral rating on the stock while cutting its price target to $145 from $180. Cowen reiterated a Buy rating but dropped its target to $175 from $210, while Mizuho maintained a Buy rating and lowered the $218 price target to $210. The consensus target is $202.58. Shares closed on Friday at $135.10.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): The RBC Capital Markets downgrade to Sector Perform from Outperform included a target price cut to $40 from $54. Jefferies kept a Buy rating and lifted the $55 target price to $60. Stifel also reiterated a Buy rating, and it raised the target to $50 from $45. The consensus target is $61.94. The stock had a huge day Friday, closing at $38.91, up close to 60%, after posting outstanding results and metrics.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and lifted the target price to $390 from $344. The consensus target is $383.65. The stock closed Friday’s session at $275.72, almost 8% higher for the day. Shares were up almost 5% in premarket trading.
VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE: VICI): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $32 price target for the triple net lease gaming real estate investment trust. The consensus target is $36.01. The final trade Friday was at $28.14.
Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT): While Jefferies upgraded the shares to Hold from Underperform, it also lowered the target price to $7.70 from $8.50. The consensus target is $8.39. The stock closed at $7.60 on Friday.
24/7 Wall St.While the gravy train for big tech may be ending, hard assets probably will continue to do well. Four real estate investment trusts pay big and dependable distributions, and their stocks are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agnico-Eagle Mines, Biogen, Exelon, Meta Platforms, New York Times, PulteGroup, Snap and Vertex Pharmaceutical. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Amazon.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Penn National Gaming, Pinterest and more.
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