Markets edged higher to start off Tuesday, as West Texas Intermediate crude slid below the $100 mark. The rebound in markets also saw gold and silver prices decline as investors seem to be gaining confidence, at least for now.

Still, inflation has hit record levels and consumers are feeling the sting. The most recent consumer price index reading from last week rose by 7.9% year over year for the month of February, hitting a 40-year high. Consumers also have been hit by rising gasoline prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict’s supply shock.

Later this week, economists anticipate the Federal Reserve will raise the federal funds rate in an effort to counter inflation, but it is unclear if this will have any immediate effect. Many believe that the rate hike is already priced in, given that markets are in correction territory, with the Nasdaq in bear market stance. The recent decline may be due in part to the prospect of rising rates, but there are plenty of overriding headwinds.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Tuesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Bumble, Chevron, Hormel, Lululemon, Nike, Target, Unilever, Zoom Video and many more.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: ASND): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the $148 price target to $161. The 52-week trading range is $96.97 to $178.71, and shares were trading near $106 on Tuesday.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP): Oppenheimer downgraded the shares to Perform from Outperform. The stock traded near $66 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $64.79 to $286.22.

Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EVLV): Stifel lowered its Buy rating to Hold and slashed the price target to $2 from $10. Shares were trading near $2 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $1.86 to $12.90.

GoodRx Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GDRX): Robert Baird’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral came with a $17 price target. Shares were trading near $14 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $13.44 to $48.05.

Heartland Express Inc. (NASDAQ: HTLD): Morgan Stanley upgraded it from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $16 price target. Shares were trading near $15. The 52-week range is $13.85 to $20.07.

LiveRamp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAMP): The Market Perform rating at BMO Capital Markets was lifted to Outperform with a $48 price target. Shares were trading near $35 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $33.42 to $58.74.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has an $83 price target. The 52-week trading range is $28.26 to $64.71, and shares were trading near $57 apiece on Tuesday.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR): Cowen downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform. Mizuho’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $8 from $35. The stock was trading near $4 on Tuesday, and the 52-week range is $3.88 to $23.50.

Prelude Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PRLD): The BofA Securities downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and the firm cut the $50 price target to $10. The 52-week trading range is $6.93 to $62.75, and shares were trading near $7 on Tuesday.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW): Atlantic Equities upgraded it from Neutral to Overweight with a $580 price target. Shares were trading near $496. The 52-week range is $387.60 to $527.06.

Most companies detest higher interest rates, as they increase borrowing costs and the overall cost of doing business. But five Warren Buffett picks are likely to be beneficiaries of higher rates, and they pay very solid and dependable dividends to shareholders too.

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