The futures were lower Monday, following the fourth straight down week on Wall Street. Oil futures exploded this weekend, with Brent crude hitting nearly $140, while West Texas Intermediate hit $130 before pulling back. The reason for the massive spike in price is that the United States appears closer to a ban on the import of Russian oil and energy products. All the major indexes closed deeply in the red Friday, with the Nasdaq once again leading the downward spiral, ending trading Friday 1.66% lower.

Gasoline prices skyrocketed last week too, with some pump prices jumping 30 cents and more overnight, the biggest rise since Hurricane Katrina. You can bet they will be soaring higher again this week, as prices in California have already hit more than $7 a gallon in some places.

The flight-to-safety bid returned for the Treasury bond market, after Russia attacked and seized the Zaporizhzhya nuclear facility, which is the largest nuclear power station in Europe. The reactors are safe as the fire at the plant was reported to be in a training building and was quickly put out. That was enough though as yields plunged across the Treasury curve, with the benchmark 10-year note closing at the 1.72% level, down a big 12 basis points. Another safe haven, gold, closed at $1,973 an ounce, a 52-week high.

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 Monday, March 7, 2022.

Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: ADV): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and lowered the $12 target price to $7. The target is $11. The closing share price on Friday was $5.75, down close to 12% on the day. The company posted solid results, but a change at the C suite level and so-so guidance may be to blame.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: MDRX): Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised the $20 price objective to $26. The consensus target is $23. The stock closed on Friday at $21.40.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO): Truist reiterated a Buy rating on the sizzling chip stock and lifted the target price to $686 from $659. UBS maintained a Buy rating and moved its $665 target to $690. JPMorgan kept an Overweight rating and lifted the target price to $715 from $700. The consensus target is $677.67. The stock closed 3% higher on Friday at $595.99 a share.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating on the popular retailer but lowered the $300 price objective to $280. The consensus target is $284.32. The final trade on Friday hit the tape at $189.67, down close to 7% after the company missed fourth-quarter earnings expectations.

CarParts.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS): Lake Street started coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 target. The consensus target is $16.75, and Friday’s close was at $7.95.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Truist Securities reiterated a Buy rating on the popular retailer but trimmed the $606 target price to $603. BMO Capital Markets maintained its Outperform rating and lifted the $560 target price to $580. Evercore ISI also kept an Outperform rating, and it boosted the target price to $565 from $560. The consensus target is $557.12, and the closing trade on Friday was reported at $525.50.

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: DNLI): Goldman Sachs cut the target price to $98 from $114 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $78.42. The share price at Friday’s close was $30.45.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating, after the company’s very positive analysts day, and has a $47 target price. However, Argus downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy. The consensus target for the sports betting and fantasy sports giant is $36.54. The last trade for Friday came in at $20.69.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): Zacks has selected this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst makes the case for why it is worth considering even amid the crisis in Ukraine. Shares closed most recently at $84.09, having overrun the consensus target price of $82.70.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Zacks named this its Bear of the Day stock, pointing out that the recent fall is part of a steady decline since last May. Shares have traded as high as $66.71 in the past year but closed most recently at $29.59, which is down about 32% year to date.

Grid Dynamics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GDYN): Needham kept a Buy rating on the shares but slashed the price target in half, to $22 from $45. The consensus target is $33.20 for now. The shares were last seen on Friday at $9.68, after a 7% decline despite topping earnings and revenue expectations.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Goldman Sachs cut its $98 price target to $85 but reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $100.65 for now. Friday’s final trade was at $63.41, down almost 3% for the day.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of the chip giant with a Neutral rating and a $245 target price. The consensus target is $343.46. The shares closed at $229.36 on Friday.

Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but chopped the $13 target price to $7. The consensus target is $11.64. The stock closed on Friday at $3.94, which was down over 7% for the day.

Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR): Mizuho upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and bumped the $60 target price up to $62. The consensus target is up at $75.56. The stock ended Friday’s session at $56.57. down close to 4% for the day.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM): JPMorgan downgraded the tobacco giant to Neutral from Overweight and cut the $130 target price to $110. The consensus target is $114.02, and shares were last seen changing hands at $99.80 apiece.

Pure Storage Inc. (NYSE: PSTG): Goldman Sachs boosted its price target to $48 from $34 and maintained a Buy rating. That compares with the $38.18 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $29.41.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the red-hot electric vehicle newcomer but slashed the $150 target price to $100. The consensus target is $124.43. The last trade on Friday was reported at $47.39, which was down close to 7% on the day.

SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Piper Sandler started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $11 target price. The consensus target is $17.77. Friday’s closing price of $10 was down over 6% for the day.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) Daiwa Securities raised its Neutral rating on the big data stock to Outperform and lifted the $130 price target to $140. The consensus target is up at $160.85. The shares ended Friday trading at $129.06. That was up close to 6% after private equity firm Hellman & Friedrich announced it had acquired a 7.5% stake in the company.

Tilray Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY): Canaccord Genuity raised its Hold rating on the marijuana stock to Buy with a $9 price target. The consensus target is higher at $15.61. Friday’s closing share price of $5.24 was down over 3% for the day.

VIZIO Holding Corp. (NYSE: VZIO): Needham maintained a Buy rating on the popular electronics maker but sliced the $20 target price to $16. The consensus target is up at $24.45. The last trade on Friday was reported at $11.08, down a massive 16% after posting disappointing earnings.

Colgate-Palmolive, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Qualcomm and other blue-chip companies are expected to hike the dividends they pay to shareholders this week, making their stocks good total return candidates.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Chevron, Citigroup, Costco, Intel, Kinross Gold, Southwest Airlines, Take-Two Interactive Software, Teladoc, Teradyne, Vale and Workhorse. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Best Buy, Marvell Technology, Six Flags and more.

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