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Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, CSX, McDonald's, Merck, Microsoft, MGM Resorts, Nike, Oracle, Union Pacific and More
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The futures were trading higher Wednesday, after another wild back-and-forth day on Wall Street. When Tuesday’s final bell rang, the Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all closed much lower, after the consumer confidence report came in very weak, falling to the lowest levels since February of 2021.
An early rally that faded by mid-morning was chalked up to reports that China has shortened the quarantine period for visitors coming to the country, and Beijing reported zero new COVID-19 cases for the first time since February. Another positive data point was that some major U.S. banks raised their dividends after posting positive stress-test data.
Oil was higher on reports that French President Macron informed President Biden that he was informed that the United Arab Emirates is “at maximum” output and neighboring Saudi Arabia probably can add only about 150,000 barrels a day, which will do nothing to lower soaring prices at the pump.
Yields across the Treasury curve were up once again, as the five-year note yield continues to trade higher than the 10-year security. The 30-year benchmark bond closed at 3.33%, and the 30-year mortgage was seen at 5.83%. Both gold and Bitcoin closed lower.
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 Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Baird maintained an Outperform rating with a $155 target price and noted the company is holding on to market share. The consensus target is up at $176.84. The shares closed almost 4% lower on Tuesday at $97.53.
Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the shares from Underperform to Neutral with an $86 target price. The consensus target is $89.20. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $76.84.
Cogent Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: COGT): Guggenheim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $15 target. The consensus target is higher at $20.14. The stock closed on Tuesday at $8.90.
Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the spirits heavyweight, which is on the firm’s Conviction List of top picks. Its $275 target price compares with the $271.95 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $245.52.
CSX Corp. (NASDAQ: CSX): Credit Suisse Started coverage of the railroad leader with an Outperform rating and a $35 target price. The consensus target is $39.04. Tuesday’s close was at $29.14.
Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL): Zacks named this cosmetics company as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst ponders whether China’s COVID-19 restrictions are already priced in. Shares have traded as high as $374.20 apiece in the past year but closed most recently at $257.37. That is down more than 30% year to date.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform with an $80 target price. This compares with the $71.59 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $57.29.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its target price to $34 from $38. The consensus target is $37.75. Tuesday’s closing share price was at $28.25.
J.Jill Inc. (NYSE: JILL): Women’s apparel is hot in 2022, says Zacks, which selected this retailer as its Bull of the Day. The stock closed last at $19.10, and the $24.00 consensus target represents more than a 25% upside.
LendingTree Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE): BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating but slashed the $190 price target to $80. The $105.75 consensus is also well above Tuesday’s close at $47.42, which was down over 7% for the day.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Atlantic Equities upgraded the fast-food giant’s stock to Overweight from Neutral and boosted the $245 price target to $278. The consensus target is $278.75. The final trade for Tuesday was recorded at $242.83.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK): BofA Securities kept a Neutral rating on the pharmaceutical heavyweight while raising the $89 price target to $93. The consensus target is $97.61. The stock closed almost 3% lower on Tuesday at $91.89.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): Redburn started coverage of the legacy software heavyweight with a Buy rating and a $370 target price. The consensus target is $357.75. Tuesday’s close at $256.48 down over 3% on the day.
24/7 Wall St.MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM): JMP Securities upgraded the gambling resort giant to Market Outperform with a $55 target price. The consensus target is $53.63. Tuesday’s close was at $29.88.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the athletic shoe and apparel giant and has a $140 target price. The consensus target is up at $151. The closing share price on Tuesday was $102.78, after the company posted earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): Exane BNP Paribas raised its Neutral rating on the software heavyweight to Outperform and has a $90 target price. The consensus target is $88.68. The $68.68 close on Tuesday was down almost 3% for the day.
Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade to Overweight from Neutral included a target price hike to $64 from $56. The consensus target is $60.40. The stock closed Tuesday at $48.62, up close to 3% on the day.
Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN): JMP Securities started coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $52 target price. The consensus target is $57.00, and Tuesday’s closing print was $31.79.
Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $105 target price. The consensus target is up at $122.15. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $103.96.
Portland General Electric Co. (NYSE: POR): Mizuho’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $40 from $56. The consensus target is $53.80. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $48.88.
Power Integrations Inc. (NASDAQ: POWI): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $118 target price. The consensus target is $105.67, and the stock closed at $76.00 on Tuesday.
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT): Deutsche Bank downgraded the money management giant from Buy to Hold with a $67 target price. The consensus target is higher at $92.14. The shares closed on Tuesday at $64.49.
Tenneco Inc. (NYSE: TEN): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $20 target price, which is the same as the consensus target. Shares ended Tuesday trading at $17.65.
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP): Credit Suisse started coverage of the legacy railroad giant with an Outperform rating and a $255 target price. The consensus target is $267. The stock closed at $213.36 on Tuesday.
XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $65 price objective. The consensus target is $82.86, and Tuesday’s final trade was for $48.43 a share.
W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with a Peer Perform rating and an $88 target price. The consensus is $88.70. The shares closed on Tuesday at $86.12.
Five stock picks from the Goldman Sachs Conviction List offer huge upside potential for aggressive investors with longer time horizons and a higher risk tolerance. Two of them are blue-chip sector leaders that are solid ideas for more conservative growth investors as well.
Goldman Sachs also has named tech stocks to avoid now.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Atlassian, Autodesk, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Darden Restaurants, DraftKings, eBay, Fortinet, LyondellBasell Industries, Riot Blockchain and WEC Energy. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Apple, Farfetch, Microchip Technology, Molson Coors Beverage, Snowflake, United Parcel Service, Verizon Communications and more.
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