Markets were tentatively higher to start out Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrials leading the charge higher with a 1.1% gain. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were up 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively. More positive earnings appear to be propping up the markets, and some solid jobs numbers are helping as well.
Jobless claims rolled in for the week at 214,000, below the consensus estimate of 230,000. The previous week had jobless claims of 226,000. This move demonstrates that the labor market remains tight, despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool down the economy and inflation.
Ultimately, the ongoing drop in jobless claims seems to be a result in seasonal changes as companies are ramping up for the holiday season. However, it is worth making the distinction that lower jobless claims are not necessarily representative of strong payrolls.
Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Thursday. 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 Albertsons, Datadog, Oracle, Spotify, Sunrun and more.
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Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: ASND): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $174 price target. The 52-week trading range is $61.58 to $167.11, and the share price was near $110 on Thursday.
Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA | CMA Price Prediction): Argus upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has an $87 price target. D.A. Davidson’s downgrade was to Neutral from Buy. The stock was last seen trading near $67, in a 52-week range of $65.88 to $102.09.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS): Oppenheimer lifted its Perform rating to Outperform. Shares have traded as high as $142.78 in the past year but were changing hands near $113 on Thursday.
Exelon Corp. (NASDAQ: EXC): KeyBanc Capital Markets cut its Overweight rating to Sector Weight. The shares traded near $36 on Thursday. The 52-week range is $35.32 to $50.71.
First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock, citing its disappointing performance. The shares have traded as high as $14.67 in the past year but were last seen trading below $8.00. That is down nearly 40% in the past six months.
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FleetCor Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FLT): The BofA Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $203 from $278. The stock traded near $167 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $163.34 to $282.02.
Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC): Roth Capital downgraded the shares from Buy all the way to Sell. It also slashed its $320 price target to $75. The 52-week trading range is $106.00 to $524.31. Shares changed hands near $113 apiece on Thursday.
Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP): Though Credit Suisse upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform, it also cut its $16 price target to $12. Shares traded near $10 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $9.83 to $28.66.
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National Instruments Corp. (NASDAQ: NATI): UBS started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $43 price target. Shares were last seen trading near $39. The 52-week range is $29.81 to $45.98.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA): The Sell rating at Williams Trading is now at Hold. The 52-week trading range is $6.38 to $27.28. Shares changed hands near $7 apiece on Thursday.
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