The futures traded higher as we wrap up the holiday-shortened trading week. All the major indexes were able to post and hold their gains Thursday, as interest rates continued to move lower. While on the surface that sounds good, and it is, what it may mean is that large institutional accounts have been big Treasury note and bond buyers this week. That may portend end-of-quarter rebalancing, as yields had moved to highs not seen since 2018. It also could be a safe-haven move, as portfolio managers are anticipating that we already could be in a recession.

Crude oil traded lower Thursday, as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate retreated from highs not seen in well over a decade. The American Petroleum Institute reported this week the biggest crude inventory rise since February, so high prices are taking a toll on motorists. Natural gas closed down over 9%.

Treasury yields plummeted across the curve on the aforementioned buying spree, while gold closed slightly higher and Bitcoin traded up close to 3%, back over the $20,000 level.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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 Friday, June 24, 2022.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the venerable biotechnology stock and has a $290 target price. The consensus target is $250.03. The closing share price on Thursday was $243.09.

Athira Pharm Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHA): Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and slashed the price target to $5 from $36. The consensus target is $20.75 for now. The stock closed on Thursday at $2.75.

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral with a $71 target price. The consensus target is $85. The shares were hammered Thursday, closing down almost 11% at $55.74, on basically no news except the downgrade.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): Zacks named this used vehicle retailer its Bear of the Day stock, citing tumbling earnings estimates across Wall Street. Shares have traded as high as $155.98 apiece in the past year but closed most recently at $91.76. That is down more than 29% year to date.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $205 price target. The consensus target is $245.79. The stock closed over 4% lower on Thursday at $185.89.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): Goldman Sachs cut its $89 price target on the homebuilder to $79 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is up at $97.21. Thursday’s close at $67.40 was up over 5% on the day.

Frontier Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ULCC): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating on the carrier to Outperform with a $14 target price. The consensus target is $17.86. The shares closed on Thursday at $9.87.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $360 target price. That compares with a $386.65 consensus and the final print on Thursday at $221.91.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the legacy industrial giant while lowering its $108 price target to $82. The consensus target is $100.17, and Thursday’s close was at $64.07.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): MKM Partners started coverage with a Neutral rating and has a $285 target price on the big-box giant. The consensus target is up at $359.83. The share price on Thursday’s close was $275.42.

Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR): Goldman Sachs trimmed its $58 price target to $50 while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $56.21. The closed almost 2% lower on Thursday at $40.96.

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA): When B. Riley Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, it guillotined the $34 price target to $9. The consensus target is $29.98. The final Thursday trade was for $7.05 a share.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET): Wolfe Research upgraded the insurance giant to Outperform from Peer Perform and bumped the $70 price target up to $74. The consensus target is $77. The stock closed at $61.33 on Thursday.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY): MKM Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $700 target price. The consensus target is higher at $741. The last trade Thursday was reported at $628.19.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating, and its $11 price target is in line with the $10.99 consensus target. The shares closed Thursday at $9.46, which was up close to 5% for the day.

Paycom Software Inc. (NYSE: PAYC): Though KeyBanc Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Overweight rating, and it lowered the $400 price target to $340. The consensus target is $377.48. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Thursday at $286.14.

Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $75 target price. The consensus target is $76. Thursday’s final trade hit the tape at $67.99.
Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI): BofA Securities cut its Buy rating to Underperform and slashed the $133 price target to $67. The consensus target is $105.22. The stock closed over 6% lower on Thursday at $75.08.

Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM): This stock is a bright spot in an otherwise dim market, says Zacks, which selected it as the Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $215.60. That is up almost 13% year to date, while the S&P 500 is down more than 20% in that time.

Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE: TECK): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target trim to $45 from $47. The consensus target is $47.75. The stock ended Thursday trading at $31.01, which was down almost 10% on no news we could source except the downgrade.

Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $63 target price. The consensus target is $63.05. The shares closed at $49.94 on Thursday.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): Goldman Sachs lowered its $215 price target to $189 while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $220.86. Thursday’s close was at $141.45.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (NYSE: WAB): As Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight, it dropped its $113 target price to $94. The consensus target is $103.40. On Thursday, shares closed at $80.76.

WeWork Inc. (NYSE: WE): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and an $11 target. The consensus target is $9.50. The stock closed on Thursday almost 16% higher to $6.27 on the upgrade and coverage.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with an $87 target price. The consensus target is $83.36. Thursday’s close at $46.76 was up over 2% for the day.

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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Analog Devices, AutoZone, Best Buy, Brixmor Property, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, DraftKings, Hudson Pacific Properties, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Medical Properties Trust, Redfin and Workday. Analyst calls seen later were on Coinbase, eBay, Snowflake, Southwest Airlines and more.

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