The first quadruple witching Friday is upon us, and this week’s three-day rally, the best since November, saw some early profit-taking Friday, but the major indexes were mostly higher headed toward midday.
The big expiration is getting many of the participants in the options and futures market closing out or moving positions forward. Quadruple witching is an event in the financial markets that happens four times each year, when four different sets of futures and options expire on the same day. Futures and options are derivatives, linked to underlying stock prices. When derivatives expire, traders must close or adjust positions. That can trigger significant volume and order flow.
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Expiring Friday were:
- Stock index futures contracts
- Single-stock options
- Options on stock-index futures
- Stock index options
With the interest rate increase in the books this week, and six more planned for this year, investors and traders are at least able to anticipate the increases. The planned increases for this year should see the federal funds rate at 1.75% to 2.00% by year’s end. However, St. Louis Fed President Bullard is calling for a 3% funds rate by the end of this year, a level much higher than what is currently priced into the market.
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24/7 Wall St. is reviewing more big analyst calls seen on Friday. 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 Cisco, CSX, Meta Platforms, Nike, Pinterest and many more.
Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX | BDX Price Prediction): Raymond James resumed coverage of the medical instrument and supplies giant with a Neutral rating. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $235.13 and $280.62, and it has a consensus price target of $288.62. Shares were seen near $260 on Friday.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (NYSE: BAH): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $96 price target. The consensus target is $90.56. The 52-week trading range is $69.68 to $91. The shares were trading on Friday above $85.
CACI International Inc. (NYSE: CACI): Stifel resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $305 target price. The consensus target is $313.50. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $235.34 and $309.80 a share. They were trading on Friday near $295.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI): UBS downgraded the truck engine and parts manufacturer to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $260 target price to $214. That compares with the higher $266.15 consensus target. The 52-week trading range is $189.50 to $273.65. The stock was trading near $200 Friday.
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Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): SMBC Nikko started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $136 target price. The consensus target is up at $213. 84. The shares have traded in a wide 52-week range of $69.73 to $213.84. The stock was trading near $145 on Friday.
Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) Goldman Sachs cut the $140 price target on the Buy-rated homebuilding giant to $120. The consensus target is $121.63. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $79.52 and $117.54. It was trading close to $90 on Friday.
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RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $13 price target. That compares with the consensus target of $15.21. The 52-week trading range is $5.78 to $25.91. The stock traded close to $8.30 on Friday.
Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $10 target. The consensus target is $12.03. The 52-week trading range is a wide $8.95 to $69.20. The stock was trading on Friday close to $11.
StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $15 price objective. The consensus target is $21.63. Over the past year, the shares have traded in a wide range of $8.05 to $71.08. On Friday they were near $13.50, up sharply after the upgrade and the announcement of some major senior management changes.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL): Exane BNP Paribas raised its Underperform rating to Neutral with a $38 target price. The consensus price objective is higher at $54.42. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $30.54 to $61.34 and were changing hands at around $42 on Friday.
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A recent survey of global fund managers found that many have turned to health care for some stability in these uncertain times. These eight high-dividend-paying stocks are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms and look very attractive now for worried investors.
And see which five fresh picks one key analyst has added to its ESG Darlings list.
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