Investing

Morgan Stanley Rips Banks, and More Stocks Wall Street Hates This Week

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Wall Street analysts are constantly releasing and updating reports on stocks across their respective coverage universes. These calls, whether positive or negative, play into the overall perception of the stock and can easily influence investors, especially if the broker making the call is a big name on Wall Street.

While these analysts may differ in terms of their approach or analytics, their bottom line tends to be this: a stock is going up, going down or just keeping pace with the market.

Every weekday, 24/7 Wall St. reviews top analysts’ research from the major brokerage firms and investment houses, and we compile the best and most prominent upgrades and downgrades. It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Here are a few stocks that we think Wall Street hated the most in this past week.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the tobacco giant from Outperform to Sector Perform with a $53 price objective on Monday. The consensus target is $54.61, and the prior closing price was $53.62. The 52-week range is $42.53 to $53.96. The stock most recently closed at $52.25.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral and cut the $50 price target to $29 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $35.74 to $160.28, and the prior close was at $48.63. The most recent closing price was $48.31 a share.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight included a price target cut to $60 from $75. The stock closed Monday at $55.92, and the 52-week range is $53.83 to $80.29. It closed most recently at 53.40.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB): Morgan Stanley lowered its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and cut the $189 price target to $179. The stock closed at $179.39 a share on Monday. The 52-week range is $128.46 to $186.95, and shares were last seen at $169.50.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF): As Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to an Equal Weight rating from Overweight, it cut the price target to $40 from $56. The closing share price on Monday was $35.85. Synchrony Financial last closed at $34.81, in a 52-week range of $33.76 to $52.49.

RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL): Credit Suisse cut its Outperform rating to Neutral and trimmed the price target to $8 from $15 on Tuesday. Shares were trading near $8 at the time. The 52-week range is $5.78 to $25.91. RealReal last closed at $7.26 a share.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) Goldman Sachs cut the $145 price target on the consumer staples giant to $127, while keeping a Sell rating. Worth noting that this is a consumer staple stock with a considerable dividend. The consensus target is $143.27. The stock ended Tuesday at $139.71 and most recently closed at $139.03.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the legacy tech giant from Neutral to Underperform with a $79 target price. The consensus target was much higher at $92.55. The shares ended Tuesday trading at $84.29 but most recently closed at $82.73.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the software heavyweight to Underperform from Neutral, and it has a $460 price objective on Wednesday. The consensus target was up at $683.93. The most recent trade came in at $556.89, down from the $597.75 close prior to the analyst’s call.

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