The futures were lower Wednesday, after a solid risk-on rally held the serve on Tuesday, with all the major indexes and the transports closing higher. Market pundits pointed to positive progress in the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks as one of the positives, with big corporate buybacks also adding to the strength. The S&P 500 is up over 10% in the past 11 trading days, which has happened only twice since 2009. With the quarter ending on Thursday, all eyes are now focused on Friday’s March nonfarm payroll report. Analysts are looking for 450,000 jobs to be added, after the last two reports came in very strong.

Yields across the Treasury curve were lower, likely a result of the end of the quarter buying from institutional accounts. Once again Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, and gold fell back toward the $1,900 per ounce level.

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 30, 2022.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): Exane BNP Paribas started coverage of the technology giant with an Outperform rating and a $570 target price. The consensus target is $568.12. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $466.33.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Exane BNP Paribas began coverage of the retail and technology colossus with an Underperform rating and a $2,800 target price. The consensus price objective is up at $4,098, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $3,386.30.

Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL): Jefferies reiterated a Neutral rating and a $19 price target on the cruise line operator. The shares have traded as high as $31.52 in the past year but closed on Tuesday at $19.93.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $65 target price. The consensus target is higher at $70.57. The closing share price on Tuesday was $50.99, up close to 5% for the day.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX): Goldman Sachs cut the $145 price target on the consumer staples giant to $127, while keeping a Sell rating. The consensus target is $143.27. The stock ended Tuesday at $139.71.

DocGo Inc. (NASDAQ: DCGO): Zacks has named this mobile health and medical transportation services provider as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst makes a case that it could change the way we think of non-emergency health care. Shares last closed at $8.95 apiece and have a consensus price target of $14.80, which would be an all-time high.
Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target to $36 from $47, while keeping a Neutral rating on the stock. The consensus target is $42.33. The shares closed on Tuesday at $30.82.

Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $144 price target. The consensus target is $129.75, and shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $103.00.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DNA): Goldman Sachs trimmed its $7 target price to $6, while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $11.14. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $4.58.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Baird designated the stock as a new Fresh Pick, one of the firm’s top trading calls, with an Outperform rating and a $205 price objective. The consensus target is just $187.41. The stock closed on Tuesday at $140.39.

Hoegh LNG Partners L.P. (NYSE: HMLP): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy and boosted the $8 target price to $9.50. The consensus target is $6. The stock closed 11% higher on Tuesday at $7.36 on no news we could find.

Krystal Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: KRYS): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and has a $93 price objective. The consensus target is $110.50. The shares closed Tuesday at $68.71, which was up over 4% for the day.

Molecular Templates Inc. (NASDAQ: MTEM): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $9 target price. The consensus is set higher at $12. The shares closed at $3.27 on Tuesday.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS): Goldman Sachs upgraded the white glove private bank to Buy from Neutral and also raised the $128 target price to $141. The consensus target is $134.78. The stock closed on Tuesday at $119.95.

Nvidia Inc. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the chip heavyweight and has a $360 target price. The consensus target is $341.15. The shares ended Tuesday at $286.56.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the legacy tech giant from Neutral to Underperform with a $79 target price. The consensus target is much higher at $92.55. The shares closed Tuesday at $84.29.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST): Citing inflation and food shortages, Zacks selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $77.43 in the past year but closed most recently at $68.45, which is down about 7% year to date.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG): J.P. Morgan downgraded the consumer staples leader to Neutral from Overweight and dropped the price objective to $165 from $181. The consensus target is $165.27, and shares closed Tuesday at $155.46.

RH (NYSE: RH): Though Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, the firm cut the $634 target price to $560. The consensus target is $655.13. The stock was last seen Tuesday at $385.69, up close to 5% on the day. The shares were hit in premarket action, down almost 4%.

SentinelOne Inc. (NYSE: S): Barclays downgraded the shares from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $37 target price. That compares with the $48.78 consensus and Tuesday’s closing print of $40.78.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the software heavyweight to Underperform from Neutral and has a $460 price objective. The consensus target is up at $683.93. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $597.15.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the retail giant and has a $180 price target. The firm cited the company’s solid position in a rising food inflation environment. The consensus target is $165.06. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $147.26.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Exane BNP Paribas cut its Neutral rating on the software leader to Underperform with a $190 price objective. The consensus target is up at $313.88. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape was at $246.26.

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After a dreadful start to 2022, the market has perked up some, with the big tech stocks leading the way. Seven top Buy-rated tech stocks also offer investors solid and dependable dividends.

Six diverse top energy stocks come with big dividends and still have room to run to the posted Wall Street price targets, as the companies are well positioned to profit from higher energy prices.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Advanced Micro Devices, Bank of New York Mellon, Carlyle, CF Industries, Chewy, Cleveland-Cliffs, CVS Health, Fifth Third Bancorp, Luminar Technologies, Nike, Pinterest, QuantumScape, Unity Software and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AutoZone, Bright Health, Etsy, NortonLifeLock, RealReal and more.

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