The futures were lower as we hit the midway point in the holiday-shortened trading week. Tuesday was another song remains the same day, as once again the Nasdaq led the markets higher, but just barely. And once again Nvidia was leading the charge, closing up over 3%, as the market cap for the tech giant now exceeds $1 trillion. While President Biden and Speaker McCarthy came to a tentative debt ceiling agreement over the weekend, the legislation now must go through both houses of Congress and that may not prove an easy task.
Treasury yields were lower across the board in a big way. Buyers finally showed up, as yields had jumped to two-month highs across the curve last week. With the June Federal Reserve meeting just over two weeks away, and after new data showed last week that one of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauges (the core personal consumption expenditures price index) climbed 0.4% in April (versus 0.3% forecast by economists), the futures markets are now predicting a 60% chance rates are hiked again. The two-year note closed Tuesday at 4.55%m down a whopping 14 basis points, while the 10-year finished the day at 3.70%, keeping the ongoing inversion firmly in place.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were both hammered over 4% lower Tuesday as worries over the debt ceiling and concerns over the upcoming OPEC meeting kept the sellers active. Data that showed gasoline use over the holiday weekend declined from 2022 also was a headwind. Natural gas finished down almost 5% at $2.31.
Gold rallied Tuesday to finish the day higher at $1,978, as Republican congressional pushback on the debt ceiling talks gave the bullion a solid tailwind. Bitcoin also had a solid start to the week, closing up slightly at $27,818.
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 Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $112 target price. The consensus target is higher at $124.90. The stock closed on Wednesday at $101.73.
ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA): BofA Securities raised its $15.50 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $18. The consensus target is $17.58. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $17.15.
Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: LNT): Though BMO Capital Markets raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform, it also trimmed its $60 target price to $56. The consensus target is $57.50. Tuesday’s close was at $51.01.
Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $295 target price. That is well above the $271 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $238.39.
Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM): Roth MKM upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral. It also raised its $274 price target to $386, above the $300.31 consensus target. Tuesday’s close at $334.93 was up close to 5% for the day on the upgrade.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $58 target price. The consensus target is $58.40. Tuesday’s close was at $50.49.
ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHPT): The Neutral rating at BofA Securities is now at Buy, but the $15.50 price target slipped to $14. The consensus target is $17.03. The stock closed on Tuesday at $9.69, up over 14% for the day on the upgrade.
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Atlantic Equities upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral. Its $70 target price is a little higher than the consensus target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $61.17, which was a one-day gain of almost 8% after the upgrade.
Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ): Roth MKM’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a price target hike to $270 from $216. The consensus target is $259.05. Tuesday’s $237.06 close was almost 2% higher for the day.
Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE: COO): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $410 target price. The consensus target is $396.00, and the shares closed on Tuesday at $368.20.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL): Truist Financial reduced its $105 target price to $103 while keeping a Hold rating. The consensus target is $106.29. Tuesday’s close was at $100.72.
CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP): William Blair started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $75 target price. The consensus target is $83.42. The stock closed on Tuesday at $64.63.
Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $240 target price. That is just shy of the $240.38 consensus target. The close on Tuesday was at $203.84.
Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NYSE: ETRN): RBC Capital Markets raised its Sector Perform rating to Outperform and its $7 target price to $10. The consensus target is $7.11. The shares closed on Tuesday at $8.21, which was up almost 35% for the day on the upgrade and the possible positive ramifications from the debt ceiling bill.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): As Jefferies upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold, the $13 target price increased to $16. The consensus target is $13.29. Wednesday’s $12.59 close up over 4% for the day on the upgrade.
Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and lifted its target price to $75 from $70. The consensus target is $73. The shares were closed on Tuesday at $60.44.
Heico Corp. (NYSE: HEI): Vertical Research upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a $191 target price. The consensus target is $177.64. The shares closed on Tuesday at $159.15.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating. Its $185 target price is higher than the $179.45 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $154.37.
KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and lifted its target price to $72 from $70. The consensus target is $750.64. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $58.81.
Kenvue Inc. (NYSE: KVUE): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $29 price target. The Citigroup team also initiated coverage with a Neutral rating, and it has a $28 target price. J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $29 target. The consensus is being set, as the post-IPO quiet period just ended. Tuesday’s close at $25.73 was down 2% for the day on overall so-so initiations.
Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $104 target price. The consensus target is $91. The shares closed on Tuesday at $82.50.
Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and set a $199 target price. That compares with the $247.81 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $172.13 a share.
Teleflex Inc. (NYSE: TFX): C.L. King started coverage with a Buy rating and a $293 price target. The consensus target is $274.54, and shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $232.06.
Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS): When SVB Securities upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform, its $147 price target jumped to $170. The consensus target is $154.07. Tuesday’s $131.36 close was up almost 3% for the day.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Outperform rating, and its $410 target price compares with a $373.15 consensus figure and Tuesday’s $325.30 close.
Now that Nvidia’s market cap has topped $1 trillion, is there any more money to be made in the artificial intelligence race? Seven quality tech stocks still have plenty of upside potential, and they also come with strong and dependable dividends.
Tech giants like Apple and Microsoft rank high among the companies with the best reputations in America in 2023.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Broadcom, Caterpillar, CVS Health, Guardant Health, Marvell Technology, Nutrien, Paramount Global, RingCentral, SoFi Technologies, UnitedHealth Group and Workday.
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