Investing

5 Stocks That Wall Street Loves This Week

Lee Jackson

Published: March 4, 2022 10:35 am

All week, 24/7 Wall St. reports on the top analysts’ research calls from the major brokerage firms and banks that we cover, both inside and outside the United States. We provide details on many of the hundreds of various stock upgrades, downgrades and resumptions and initiations of coverage.

Research analysts typically provide an in-depth look into everything from a company’s business silo and products to balance sheet and financials, while raising, lowering or maintaining their specific price target. This week we found five top companies on which Wall Street analysts are absolutely pounding the table, and all make sense for equity investors looking for fresh ideas for their stock portfolios.

It is important to remember that many times analysts are providing coverage on companies that their firms’ investment banking teams have provided services for, so while usually very fair, it is part of the equation. It is also important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Here are five stocks that Wall Street loves this week.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating while lowering its price target to $285 from $310. Citigroup stayed with a Buy rating and dropped the $305 price target to $286, while Truist Securities maintained a Buy rating and trimmed its target price to $200 from $210. The consensus target price is $290.24. The shares traded on Friday near $210 apiece.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but slashed the $315 price target to $175. Truist Securities also reiterated a Buy rating, and it trimmed its $250 target to $220, and Jefferies maintained a Buy rating but lowered the price target to $155 from $200. The consensus target is $189.83. The stock was changing hands on Friday at around $112, so there is huge upside potential even to the lower price targets.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating but cut the target price to $300 from $350. Wedbush kept an Outperform rating and lowered its $315 target to $275. Raymond James maintained a Strong Buy rating, but its price target dropped to $300 from $340. The consensus target is $295.93. Trading at around $203 on Friday, shares of this top company can deliver some big upside going forward.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): UBS reiterated a Buy rating on the popular big-box retailer, and it nudged up the target to $295 from $290. Truist Securities reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its target to $261 from $270. RBC Capital Markets kept an Outperform rating and lifted the $278 target price to $294. The consensus target is $278.74. The shares were trading near $224 on Friday.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Wedbush maintained an Outperform rating but cut the target price to $330 from $400. UBS kept a Buy rating, but its $350 target price dropped to $325. Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and sliced the price target to $310 from $335. The consensus target is $330.15. Trading near $230 on Friday means there is plenty of upside to the lowered price objectives.