CME, GameStop, Intel, Verizon and More Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Calls

With the trading day more than halfway over, the broad markets were somewhat mixed on the day. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 each posted a handy gain, while the Nasdaq was lagging.

24/7 Wall St. is looking at some big analyst calls that we have seen so far on Wednesday. We have included the most recent analyst call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts.

For those that might have missed it, 24/7 Wall St. had an earlier round of analyst calls on Wednesday that included Alcoa, Apple, Cloudflare, GameStop, Zscaler and more.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB | AVB Price Prediction) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank, and its price target was cut to $162 from $160. Shares traded near $186 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $123.70 to $195.46. The consensus price target is $181.17.

[nativounit]

Banc of California Inc. (NYSE: BANC) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform with a $24 price target at Keefe Bruyette. The stock was trading near $18 a share. The 52-week trading range is $6.44 to $21.40, and the consensus price target is $20.63.

Central Garden & Pet Co. (NASDAQ: CENT) was upgraded at Truist Securities to Buy from Hold. The stock traded near $53 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $25.37 to $53.96. It has a consensus price target of $40.75.

Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: CSR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research. Early Wednesday, the stock traded near $71. The 52-week range is $43.58 to $77.30, and the consensus price target is $76.63.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities. The stock traded near $204 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $146.35 to $216.75. It has a consensus price target of $199.78.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) was reiterated by Telsey Advisory as Underperform and its price target was dropped to $30 from $33. The stock traded near $153 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $2.57 to $483.00. Its consensus analyst target is $14.64.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated at Needham with a Buy rating and its price target was raised to $74 from $70. The stock traded near $64 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $43.61 to $67.44. Its consensus target price is $63.43.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NASDAQ: OAS) was started at MKM Partners as Buy. Shares traded at around $62 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $0.07 to $65.58. The consensus analyst target is $69.33.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was upgraded at Tigress Financial to Buy from Neutral. The consensus price target is $59.88. Shares traded around $57 on Wednesday, in the 52-week range of $48.84 to $61.95.

[recirclink id=855530]
The focus on clean energy is set to remain at the forefront for a while. Four top Goldman Sachs solar stock picks are a way to play the potential, as they offer outstanding entry points for aggressive growth investors with an eye for value.

Find out who is taking Tesla to task over privacy concerns, and why one key analyst now favors aluminum over copper. Also, what is the next unicorn IPO to keep an eye on, and which analyst thinks Apple is ready to make another run?

[wallst_email_signup]