Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Booking, BP, Block, T-Mobile and More

Investing

Published: March 23, 2022 2:08 pm

Markets gave back their gains from Tuesday in the face of rising oil prices. WTI Crude tipped above $113 signalling concern across broad markets. Even though investors are tending to use oil prices as a barometer for market sentiment at the moment, other concerns regarding inflation are still very present.

On Monday, Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman, made remarks following the Fed’s most recent decision to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points last week. The initial response from markets was fairly positive as well. In the past, the Fed has been critiqued for “caring too much about equities markets” and not raising rates when necessary. Luckily, it looks like the Fed is more willing to pull the trigger now that investor sentiment is on their side.

Separately, equities markets rallied last week, and the S&P 500 notched one of its strongest weeks in recent memory, with over a 6% gain for those five trading days. The question remains whether the bottom is in and markets are finding a new direction, especially with the help of the Fed. Analysts still seem to think it is a stock pickers’ market.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing more big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. 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 American Express, Baker Hughes, Duke Energy, Nike, Okta and many more.

Air China Ltd. (OTC: AIRYY): Jefferies downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy. The 52-week trading range is $12.02 to $17.94, and shares were trading near $14 on Wednesday.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and raised the price target to $2,900 from $2,800. The stock traded near $2,158 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $1,796.45 to $2,715.66.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP): Morgan Stanley upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight. The 52-week trading range is $22.64 to $34.16, and shares were trading near $31 apiece on Wednesday.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Morgan Stanley Resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $146 price target. The stock was trading near $138 on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $82.72 to $289.23.

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded to an Overweight rating from Sector Weight with a $155 price target. The stock was trading near $125 on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $101.51 to $150.20.

Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Raymond James downgraded to a Market Perform rating form Outperform. Shares were trading near $150 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $143.30 to $287.44.

Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $225 price target. Shares were trading near $205 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $154.26 to $314.49.

Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD): UBS upgraded to a Buy rating from Neutral. Shares were trading near $50. The 52-week range is $23.21 to $152.06.

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