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Monday's Top Analysts Upgrades and Downgrades: Altria, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Etsy, Intel, McDonald's and More
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The futures traded lower on Halloween, as we get ready to start a very busy week for earnings and the Federal Reserve November meeting. It is all but assured that rates will once again be raised by 75 basis points. All the major indexes ended higher Friday, led by the Dow Jones industrials and the Nasdaq, both up well over 2.5%.
The big gains came despite a disastrous week for technology in which many of the mega-cap sector leaders posted disappointing results and guidance. The core personal consumption expenditures price index for September came in at 0.5% from the previous month and 5.1% from a year ago, indicating that inflation is still running way above target.
The Treasury market saw selling on Friday across the curve, with the benchmark 10-year note yield moving back across the 4% level. The inversion with the two-year paper stayed in place, despite the sellers hitting the short end as well, closing the note at 4.42%. The inversion suggests to bond traders that recession is lurking.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both close modestly lower Friday, after a solid week overall. Natural gas also ended the week lower, and again the unseasonably warm weather in Europe has been cited for the weakness. Gold closed the day lower, while Bitcoin finished the week on a positive note, up almost 2%.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 on Halloween Monday, October 31, 2022.
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $50 target price after the company reported basically inline results. The consensus target for the tobacco giant is $48.83. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $46.31.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and lowered its $195 price target to $150. Jefferies reiterated it at Buy but cut its $165 target to $135. Truist Financial maintained a Buy rating and lowered its target to $160 from $170. The consensus target is $167.22. The stock closed on Friday at $103.41, which was down almost 7% on the day, after the company reported disappointing third-quarter results last week.
Amplify Energy Corp. (NYSE: AMPY): Roth Capital’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $12 target. The shares hit a 52-week high of $9.86 on Friday and closed at $9.60.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating but cut the target price to $200 from $220. Citigroup maintained a Buy rating while trimming its $185 price target to $175, while Barclays reiterated an Equal Weight rating and bumped the $155 price target up to $156. The consensus target is $183.59. The stock closed on Friday at $155.74, up close to 8% on the day, as the company was one of the few tech leaders that posted solid results last week.
Atlassian Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM): This software maker is the Zacks Bear of the Day stock, with the analyst citing enterprise IT spending and inflation concerns. Shares have traded as high as $461.45 in the past year but closed most recently at $200.82. That is down over 47% year to date, more than the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: AXTA): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $27 target price. The consensus target is $27.83, and Friday’s close was at $23.82.
Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the private equity giant and has a $360 target price. The consensus target is $342.83. The shares ended Friday at $239.41, down almost 16% despite earnings and sales that topped estimates and rose year over year.
Coastal Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CCB): Raymond James resumed coverage with a Strong Buy rating and has a $57 target price. The consensus target is $58.33. Friday’s close at $45.48 was up close to 8% for the day after solid results for the quarter were posted.
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and has a $48 price objective. The consensus target is $43.88. The stock closed on Friday at $31.95.
Customers Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: CUBI): D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and nudged the $42 price target up to $44. The consensus target is $47.94. The stock closed on Friday at $33.81, up almost 7% for the day. The bank posted solid results last week.
Dana Inc. (NYSE: DAN): RBC Capital Markets cut its Outperform rating to Sector Perform but nudged the$15 target price to $16. The consensus is set at $15, and the stock ended Friday trading at $15.58.
Decker’s Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK): Stifel raised its $367 target price to $390 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus target is $394.79. The shares closed over 4% lower on Friday at $345.35.
Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut to $250 from $297. The consensus target is $291.23, and Friday’s closing print was $222.24.
Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $127 target price. That compares with a $118.04 consensus target and Friday’s close at $97.91.
24/7 Wall St.Globe Life Inc. (NYSE: GL): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In Line from Outperform and sliced the price target to $114 from $115. The consensus target is $119.11. The stock closed on Friday at $113.71.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Barclays raised its Underweight rating to Equal Weight and has a $30 target price. The consensus target is $34.27. The shares closed on Friday at $29.07, up close to 11% on the day after the company announced cost-cutting plans and layoffs.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and lifted its $298 target price to $305. Credit Suisse kept an Outperform rating and boosted its $272 target price to $292, while Barclays maintained an Overweight rating and lifted the target price to $295 from $270. The consensus target is $283. Friday’s close at $274.52 was up almost 4% on the day. The company posted strong results last week.
Medical Properties Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPW): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $21 target price to $17. The consensus target is $16.69. The stock closed on Friday at $11.59.
MYR Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MYRG): Baird upgraded the shares to Outperform from Neutral. It also boosted its $92 target price to $95. The consensus target is $107.67. Friday’s close at $86.97 was up over 8% for the day, despite third-quarter results that lagged analysts’ estimates.
O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY): Goldman Sachs raised its $745 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $851. The consensus target is $819.26. The stock closed on Friday at $836.30.
Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised the price objective to $104 from $89. The consensus target is just $92.00. The stock closed on Friday at $88.27, which was up close to 4% for the day.
ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $275 target price. The consensus target is lower at $253.29. The stock closed almost 6% lower on Friday at $218.73 after the company poised inline earnings for the quarter.
Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $270 target price. The consensus target is just $229.00. Friday’s close was at $223.14.
United Fire Group Inc. (NASDAQ: UFCS): As Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight, it lowered its $37 target price to $31. The consensus target is $31. The stock closed 18% lower on Friday at $26.12 after reporting disappointing third-quarter earnings.
Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV): Goldman Sachs lowered its $235 price target to $205 but kept a Buy rating. The consensus target is $218.35. The shares closed on Friday at $171.58.
Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and a $10 price target. The consensus target is up at $17.67. The last trade on Friday was reported at $4.16.
West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE: WST): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $385 price target to $250. The consensus target is $364.83. Friday’s close was at $225.41.
With the potential for big downside still looming, and interest rates definitely headed higher, stock investors may want to consider seven Dividend Aristocrats that posted better than expected third-quarter results and have solid upside potential.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AGNC Investment, Biogen, Cano Health, Carnival, Lithium Americas, Meta Platforms, Seagate Technology, Vertiv, VFC and Waste Management. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Axalta Coating Systems, Caterpillar, DigitalOcean, Edwards Lifesciences, First Solar, Gilead Sciences, Intel, Stanley Black & Decker, Unity Software, Western Union and more.
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