Futures were somewhat mixed on Tuesday morning. Monday saw a big bounce to close out the month of January, with the Nasdaq leading the charge higher with a gain of about 3.4%. However, the broad markets still are close to correction territory, after facing down what was the worst trading month since March 2020 (peak pandemic market carnage), which is really saying something. Most of this move has been brought about by the Federal Reserve’s decisions in regard to monetary policy to combat inflation by raising interest rates.

Despite the recent pullback, one big positive for investors and the economy is that the surge of Omicron cases appears to be peaking and starting to fall. 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, compared to the past.

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 Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to a Neutral rating from Underperform. Shares closed Monday at $220.74, in a 52-week range of $133.82 to $291.48.

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the price target to $65 from $84. Shares were trading at around $55.50 in Tuesday morning’s premarket. The 52-week range is $49.67 to $140.36.

BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX): Redburn’s upgrade was to Neutral from Sell. The 52-week trading range is $90.29 to $464.00, and shares last closed at $172.08.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): UBS downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and has a $50 price target. Shares were trading around $88.62 at Monday’s close, and the 52-week range is $40.90 to $89.74.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Underweight and raised the price target to $40 from $39. The stock was trading around $34.57 at Monday’s close, and the consensus target price is $50.89.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS): The BofA Securities downgrade to Underperform from Buy included a price target cut to $30 from $40. Shares were trading around $32 in Tuesday’s premarket session, and the consensus target price is $49.50.

Kemper Corp. (NYSE: KMPR): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. The 52-week trading range is $51.39 to $83.98, and shares were last seen trading near $60 early on Tuesday.

Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): BofA Securities upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform. Shares were trading at $23.01 on Monday’s close. The 52-week range is $14.73 to $33.04.

Luminar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LAZR): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $14 price target. The stock was trading around $15 early on Tuesday, and the consensus target price is $25.73.

Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH): This stock was named the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which see it as a dirt-cheap stock with rising earnings. Shares most recently closed at $102.03 and have a consensus price target of $135.67, which would be an all-time high.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $400 price target. The 52-week trading range is $253.50 to $384.33, and shares were last seen trading near $316.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA): Redburn lifted its Sell rating to Neutral. Shares were trading around $175 in Tuesday’s premarket, and the 52-week range is $117.34 to $497.49.

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to a Neutral rating from Underperform and raised the price target from $141 to $171. Shares were trading at around $119 early on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $106.14 to $214.43.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $45 price target. Shares were trading around $32.54 at Monday’s close. The 52-week range is $28.02 to $83.34.

Tabula Rasa HealthCare Inc. (NASDAQ: TRHC): Robert Baird’s downgraded to Neutral from Outperform came with a price target cut to $11 from $24. Shares were trading around $10 early on Tuesday, and the 52-week range is $9.95 to $61.80.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Stifel resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $39 price target. Shares were trading around $38 in Tuesday’s premarket, and the 52-week range is $32.05 to $80.75.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): This carrier is the Zacks Bear of the Day stock due to Omicron hitting travel demand in 2022. Shares have traded as high as $63.70 apiece in the past year but closed on Monday at $42.88.

US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE: USFD): Truist started coverage with a Buy rating and a $43 price target. Shares were trading at around $35 early on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $30.02 to $42.10.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and cut the price target to $295 from $330. The 52-week trading range is $217.60 to $307.81, and shares traded near $253 apiece.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): Atlantic Equities raised its Neutral rating to Overweight with a $60 price target. Shares were trading around $54 early on Tuesday, and the 52-week range is $30.38 to $58.87.

Want to own tech stocks but also need income? Five well-known technology companies pay big dividends, have solid growth prospects for the rest of 2022 and beyond, and look like outstanding ideas now.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advance Auto Parts, Agnico-Eagle Mines, AutoZone, ChargePoint, Corning, General Dynamics, QuantumScape, STMicroelectronics, Tapestry, Target and Williams-Sonoma. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Chevron, Netflix, Robinhood, Tesla and more.

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