Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Booking, BP, Block, T-Mobile and More

Wednesday's additional top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Booking, BP, Block, T-Mobile and more.

Published March 23, 2022, 2:08pm ET · 3 min read

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Two men are intently focused on computer screens displaying financial charts against a dark blue background. The man in the foreground on the left wears glasses and has his hand near his chin in a thoughtful pose, looking at a screen showing white and colored lines on a graph. A second man is partially visible and blurred on the right, also looking at a screen.
Traders intently monitor market movements, reflecting the cautious yet growing bullish sentiment among investors considering a buying opportunity for Salesforce. © Mario Tama / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Markets gave back their gains from Tuesday in the face of rising oil prices. WTI Crude tipped above $113 signalling concern across broad markets. Even though investors are tending to use oil prices as a barometer for market sentiment at the moment, other concerns regarding inflation are still very present.

On Monday, Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, made remarks following the Fed’s most recent decision to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points last week. The initial response from markets was fairly positive as well. In the past, the Fed has been critiqued for “caring too much about equities markets” and not raising rates when necessary. Luckily, it looks like the Fed is more willing to pull the trigger now that investor sentiment is on their side.

Separately, equities markets rallied last week, and the S&P 500 notched one of its strongest weeks in recent memory, with over a 6% gain for those five trading days. The question remains whether the bottom is in and markets are finding a new direction, especially with the help of the Fed. Analysts still seem to think it is a stock pickers’ market.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing more big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. 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 American Express, Baker Hughes, Duke Energy, Nike, Okta and many more.

Air China Ltd. (OTC: AIRYY): Jefferies downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy. The 52-week trading range is $12.02 to $17.94, and shares were trading near $14 on Wednesday.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG | BKNG Price Prediction): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised the price target to $2,900 from $2,800. The stock traded near $2,158 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $1,796.45 to $2,715.66.

[nativounit]

BP PLC (NYSE: BP): Morgan Stanley upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight. The 52-week trading range is $22.64 to $34.16, and shares were trading near $31 apiece on Wednesday.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Morgan Stanley Resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $146 price target. The stock was trading near $138 on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $82.72 to $289.23.

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded to an Overweight rating from Sector Weight with a $155 price target. The stock was trading near $125 on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $101.51 to $150.20.

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Raymond James downgraded to a Market Perform rating form Outperform. Shares were trading near $150 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $143.30 to $287.44.

Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $225 price target. Shares were trading near $205 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $154.26 to $314.49.

Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD): UBS upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral. Shares were trading near $50. The 52-week range is $23.21 to $152.06.

[wallst_email_signup]

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.

His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.

When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.

All articles →