The futures were lower after so-so results from Amazon, which included a price hike in Amazon Prime membership, somewhat helped to counter a huge risk-off Thursday after dreadful numbers from companies like Meta Platforms. A much stronger than expected nonfarm payrolls report also failed to aid the futures. Yields moved higher, as there was selling across the Treasury curve, and West Texas Intermediate crude continued its climb, breaking through $90 a barrel.

One big positive for investors and the economy is that the surge of Omicron cases appears to be peaking and starting to fall. Also, 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.

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 Friday, February 4, 2022.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM): Barclays upgraded the gold-mining giant to Overweight from Equal Weight and bumped the $67 target price to $69. The consensus target is much higher at $93.55. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $48.14.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): Guggenheim upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $170 price objective. The consensus target is $213.95, and the stock was last seen at $142.51.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the biotech heavyweight to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered the $260 price target to $238. The consensus target is $272.90. The shares closed Thursday at $220.17.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy and lifted the target price to $106 from $102. The consensus target is $108.05. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $89.56, which was down over 3% for the day.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS): Zacks has picked this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst pointed out that this chip maker recently posted a solid beat and raise quarter. Shares most recently closed at $82.40, and the consensus price target of $107.92 would be an all-time high.

Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $65 target price. Vertical Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 target, while Guggenheim began coverage at Neutral with a $51 target. The shares ended Thursday at $53.62.

DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM): BTIG Research raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $320 target price. The consensus target is much higher at $607.53. The stock closed Thursday at $418.73, down close to 4% on the day.

Duke Realty Corp. (NYSE: DRE): Truist Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $63 price target. Shares were last seen on Thursday trading at $58.80 apiece.

Exelon Corp. (NASDAQ: EXC): Wells Fargo downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $45 target price. RBC Capital Market lowered its Outperform rating to Sector Perform and slashed the $66 target price to $46, while Vertical Research cut the stock from Buy to Hold with a $45 target price. The consensus target is $61.94. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $43.79.

Franco-Nevada Corp. (NYSE: FNV): The Barclays upgrade of the miner to Equal Weight from Underweight included a target price hike to $110 from $107. The consensus target is $147.04. The shares were last seen on Thursday at $135.99.

Insulet Corp. (NASDAQ: PODD): BTIG raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $320 target price. The consensus target is $307.93. The final trade for Thursday was at $242.06, which was down almost 5% for the day.

MEI Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: MEIP): Jefferies started coverage of the micro-cap biotech with a Buy rating and a $4 target price. The consensus target is up at $10.89. The stock closed on Thursday at $1.74.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): DZ Bank downgraded the social media behemoth from Hold to Sell with a $225 target price. The consensus target is $353.91. The shares closed on Thursday at $237.76, down 26% after it posted some of the worst results in the history of the company.

Mister Car Wash Inc. (NYSE: MCW): Stifel began coverage with a Hold rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is $23.13. The stock ended Thursday over 5% lower at $16.45 a share.

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT): The recent beat and great earnings history are not enough to lift expectations, suggests Zacks, which named this its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $56.19 in the past year but closed on Thursday at $41.58, which is down about 14% year to date.

NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR): UBS upgraded the shares to Neutral from Sell and raised the target price to $5,500 from $4,825. The consensus target is up at $5,973. Thursday’s final trade for the homebuilding conglomerate was at $5,431.48 a share.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): DZ Bank’s downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $140 target price. The consensus price objective is $206.27. The stock closed on Thursday at $124.30, down over 6% on the day.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM): UBS upgraded the homebuilder to Buy from Neutral and lifted the target price to $70 from $63. The consensus target is $66.08, and Thursday’s closing print was $52.84.

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Hold rating and dropped the target price to $32 from $40. The consensus target is much higher at $55.53. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $28.18, which was close to 5% lower for the day.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): Needham’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $347 price objective. The consensus target is $328.57. The closing share price on Thursday was $231.20.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and has a $55 price target. That compares with the $61.94 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $24.75, which was down a stunning 24% for the day. The shares had a big rally in the premarket, up 45%, after the company posted stellar quarterly results.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK): Citigroup resumed coverage of the popular toolmaker with a Buy rating and a $215 price target. The $217.56 target is also well above Thursday’s final print of $174.36.

Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform and has a $269 price target. The consensus target is $267.97. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $243.75, after retreating almost 4% on the day.

W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE: WRB): Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $106 price target. The consensus target is $95.92. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $88.94.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating but cut the target price to $75 from $95. The consensus target is $86.76. The final trade for Thursday hit the tape at $46.57, down close to 4% on the day.

Five Dividend Aristocrat stocks are in defensive sectors and look poised to do well the rest of 2022. They are Buy rated at top Wall Street firms as well. With interest rates rising and a correction looming, they make a ton of sense now.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Beyond Meat, Colgate-Palmolive, Edwards Lifesciences, Electronic Arts, Exxon Mobil, Meta Platforms, PayPal and Starbucks. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AbbVie, First Solar, Spotify and more.

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