Investing

The Fed’s Biggest Move in 20 Years, Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Akamai, Block, Livent, Starbucks and More

Chris Lange

Published: May 4, 2022 2:59 pm

Markets were positive going into the last hour of trading, with each of the major averages up around 1%. Note that this comes after the Fed announced that it would be making its biggest interest rate hike since 2000. A few choppy weeks of trading may have also helped price in this move by the Fed.

In a sense, with this huge rate hike, the Fed is admitting that it printed too much money over the course of the pandemic. Too much money chasing too few goods has led to inflation not rivaled in over 40 years. Some analysts previously argued that the markets would naturally bounce back as COVID-19 waned, and the trillion-dollar government spending bills were far too much and unnecessary at that.

Initial statements by the Fed and the U.S. Department of Treasury when inflation was just picking up last year were in regards to its “transitory” nature, but it’s clear to investors now that this is hardly the case.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional 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 Academy, Expedia, Freshpet, SolarEdge, Tenet Healthcare and many more.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Robert Baird downgraded to a Neutral rating from Outperform and cut the price target to $102 from $125. The 52-week trading range is $96.86 to $123.25, and shares traded near $101 apiece on Wednesday.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Oppenheimer resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $150 price target. The 52-week trading range is $82.72 to $289.23, and shares were trading near $101 on Wednesday.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA): Morgan Stanley downgraded to an Equal Weight rating from Overweight with a $105 price target. The 52-week trading range is $52.37 to $376.83, and shares traded near $58 apiece on Wednesday.

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (NYSE: HLF): Jefferies downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy and slashed the price target to $26 from $60. The stock traded near $25 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $23.75 to $55.78.

Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): Cowen upgraded to an Outperform rating from Market Perform and raised the price target to $33 from $25. The 52-week trading range is $16.32 to $33.04, and shares were trading near $27 on Wednesday.

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT): Susquehanna downgraded to a Neutral rating from Positive and cut the price target to $25 from $54. The stock traded near $21 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $20.02 to $63.07.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (NYSE: SMG): JPMorgan upgraded to an Overweight rating from Neutral and cut the price target to $130 from $150. At the same time, Stifel downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy and cut the price target to $116 from $130. The stock traded near $116 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $98.61 to $247.84.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Evercore ISI upgraded to an Outperform rating from In-Line with a $95 price target. Shares were trading near $81. The 52-week range is $73.38 to $126.32.

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB): Argus upgraded to a Buy rating from Hold. The 52-week trading range is $479.10 to $763.22, and shares traded near $520 apiece on Wednesday.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA): Piper Sandler downgraded to an Underweight rating from Neutral and cut the price target to $7 from $11. Shares traded near $8 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $7.24 to $11.55.