The futures were higher on Wednesday, after a risk-on rally that finally held its ground. After a brutal start to the year for the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000, both indexes closed Tuesday higher but still are lurking just below the down 20% bear market status. All the major indexes and the transports soared higher, as both oil and gold once again plunged, and there was selling across the Treasury curve as the five-year and 10-year notes and the 30-year bond closed at 52-week high yields.

The collapse in oil pricing is perhaps the best news for Americans, as prices at the pump had in some locations risen to the highest levels ever. Brent crude closed at $98.85 a barrel, down well over 7%, while West Texas Intermediate ended the day down a stunning 8% to $94.57. While it will take some time to flow through to the retail level, drivers should see things start to improve in April.

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 Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on shares of the energy giant to $46.50 from $36 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $41.98. The stock closed Tuesday at $36.70.

Archer Daniels Midland Inc. (NYSE: ADM): Goldman Sachs raised its $79 target price to $91 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $73.85. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $82.79.

BigCommerce Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BIGC): Berenberg initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $21 target price. The consensus target is $35.67. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $17.72.

Bioventus Inc. (NASDAQ: BVS): Craig Hallum started coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price target. The consensus is much lower at $19. The stock closed on Tuesday at $13.45, up over 6% for the day.

Compass Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CMPX): Ladenburg Thalmann started coverage with a Buy rating and a $7 target. The consensus is higher at $9.43. The stock closed almost 7% higher on Tuesday at $1.54.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and slashed the $230 target price to $70. For now, the consensus target is $193.57. The shares closed Tuesday at $72.55, down almost 20% after announcing disappointing guidance.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised the target price to $188 from $154. The consensus target is $156.67. Tuesday’s closing share price was $124.56.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $64 price objective. The consensus target is $66.59. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $53.94.

Freshpet Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT): Zacks named this stock as its Bear of the Day, suggesting that the history of earnings misses and a strong technical downtrend mean the odds aren’t exactly in this pet product maker’s favor. Shares have traded as high as $186.98 in the past year but closed most recently at $85.27, down more than 10% year to date.

Global Ship Lease Inc. (NYSE: GSL): Buoyed by an undervalued and leading industry group, says Zacks, it is not difficult to see why this is a top stock. The firm selected it as the Bull of the Day stock. The shares most recently closed at $27.42 and have a consensus price target of $31.00, which would be a 52-week high.

Horizon Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: HZNP): Oppenheimer started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $140 price objective. That is less than the $144.39 consensus target but well above the $103.26 close on Tuesday.

LiveRamp Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RAMP): BMO Capital Markets raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $48 price objective. The consensus target is up at $65.36. The stock popped almost 8% on Tuesday to close at $36.36.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Bernstein upgraded the shares from Market Perform to Outperform with a $94 target. The consensus target is higher at $111.69. The stock closed on Tuesday at $73.11, which was a gain of over 5% for the day.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Cowen reiterated its Outperform rating on the semiconductor giant and has a $350 price target. The consensus target is $341.17. Tuesday’s closing print was reported at $229.73, up almost 8% on the day.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating and raised the $254 target price to $297. That compares with a $257.28 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $227.70.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Bernstein started coverage on the popular discount retailer with an Outperform rating and a $125 target price. The consensus target is $120. The final trade on Tuesday was for $87.46 a share.

Simply Good Foods Co. (NASDAQ: SMPL): Goldman Sachs dropped the price target to $45 from $50 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $44.50. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $36.12.
SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and dropped the $18 target price to $10. The consensus target is $17.29. The stock closed at $8.20 on Tuesday.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): J.P. Morgan upgraded shares of the ubiquitous coffee retailer to Overweight from Neutral and has a $101 price objective. The consensus target is $114.45. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $83.12, which was up close to 5% on the day.

Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK): Evercore ISI resumed coverage of the medical devices heavyweight with an Outperform rating and a $284 target price. The consensus target is $283.96. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $254.34, a gain of almost 4% for the day.

Toast Inc. (NASDAQ: TOST): Baird started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $25 price objective. The consensus target is $33.50. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $17.38, up close to 7%.

Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ: WAFD): D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $43 price target. The consensus target is $40.67. The stock closed on Tuesday at $34.67.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): Northcoast’s upgrade of the popular restaurant chain was to Buy from Neutral. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $110.54 to $187.35, and they have a $174.89 consensus price objective. The final trade Tuesday came in at $113.24.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW): Atlantic Equities upgraded the shares from Neutral to Overweight with a $580 target price. The consensus target is $533. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $497.75.

Stocks have taken a beating this year, but the five highest-yielding Dividend Aristocrats are screaming buys now for patient and long-term growth and income investors, given their reasonable upside potential and very dependable dividends.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, Bumble, Chevron, Fortive, Hormel Foods, Interpublic Group, Lululemon Athletica, Natera, Nike, NOV, Target, Trip.com, Tyson Foods, Unilever and Zoom Video Communications. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Coupa Software, GoodRx, Mosaic, Nektar Therapeutics and more.

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