The futures were trading higher to open the new trading week, after a solid close to a record-setting week that saw all the major indexes close the day higher. The S&P 500 climbed out of the longest bear market in over 70 years. The venerable index had been in bear-market territory for 248 trading days, the longest bear market since the 484 trading days that ended on May 15, 1948. Despite crawling out of a huge hole since the lows were put in, the S&P 500 is still over 10% below the all-time high.

Treasury yields closed the day and the week higher, as the sellers returned with an eye toward this week and the Federal Reserve meeting. While the futures market is only pricing in about a 30% chance for another rate increase, the May consumer price index data will come on the same day next week that the Fed meeting starts. If it comes in at or above the expected levels, combined with the huge job numbers that started the month off, Fed Chair Powell may surprise and lift the rate by 25 basis points to take it to 5.25% to 5.50%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude ended a rollercoaster week on Friday with both of the benchmarks closing 1.5% lower. This was despite the rig count dropping, once again, last week and the prospect of a July start for a voluntary 1 million barrel per day production cut from Saudi Arabia. Natural gas closed flat on Friday at $2.26.

Gold also finished a wild week, closing lower on Friday at $1,975.40, but finishing the week up 0.4%. Like in all the other sectors, gold traders will be watching and waiting for the Fed decision on rates and keeping a close eye on any continued dollar strength. Bitcoin closed out a dreadful week down 30 basis points at $26,430. As a reminder, the cryptocurrency giant was trading over $30,000 a short six weeks ago.

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 seen on Monday, June 12, 2023.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and has a $95 price objective. The consensus target price is lower at $91.14. The final trade for Friday came in at $80.38.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): When Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, its $420 target price jumped to $525. The consensus target is just $422.97. The shares closed almost 4% higher on Friday at $454.00 after the upgrade.

Braze Inc. (NASDAQ: BRZE): Oppenheimer raised its $38 target price on the Outperform-rated shares to $42. The consensus target is $40.20. Friday’s close at $39.43 was up a whopping 16% for the day on glowing analyst comments across Wall Street.
Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: CZR): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $68 target price. The consensus target is higher at $70.46. Friday’s closing share price was $48.50.

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE): Vertical Research downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and has a $122 target price. The consensus target is $124.70. Friday’s close was at $113.63.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): Morgan Stanley lifted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and its $35 price objective to $38. The consensus target is $37. On Friday, shares closed at $32.78.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $180 target price. The consensus target is $181.24. Friday’s final trade was for $150.22 a share.

Disc Medicine Opco Inc. (NASDAQ: IRON): The Outperform rating at Raymond James is now at Strong Buy. The analyst also lifted the $50 target price to $75, even further above the $42.33 consensus target. Friday’s closing print of $45.69 was up 16% after the upgrade and more positive commentary.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU): BofA Securities raised its $68 target price on the Neutral-rated shares to $72. The consensus target is just $66.54, and Friday’s closing trade of $57.02 was down close to 3% for the day.

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR): As Piper Sandler raised its Underweight rating to Neutral, the target price rose to $68 from $63. The consensus target is $68.34. The shares closed on Friday at $66.18.

Finward Bancorp (NASDAQ: FNWD): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and trimmed its $14 target price to $13. The consensus target is up at $32.50. The shares closed on Friday at $21.33.

Greif Inc. (NYSE: GEF): Stifel boosted its $85 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $94. The consensus target is $74.75. Friday’s close at $71.38 was a one-day gain of over 2%.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK): Evercore ISI downgraded the shares to In Line from Outperform. Its $18.50 target is still well above the $16.63 consensus target and Friday’s close at $13.91.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): Goldman Sachs lowered its $103 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $92. The consensus target is $93.06. Friday’s close was at $63.49.

Principal Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PFG): Though Keefe Bruyette upgraded the insurance and investment heavyweight to Market Perform from Underperform, it also trimmed its $77 target price to $75. The consensus is $75.33, and Friday’s close was at $71.39.
Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS): When Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral, its target price shrank to $109 from $120. The consensus is set at $123.69. The last trade Friday was filled at $128.12.

Repair Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RPTX): Stifel lifted its Hold rating to Buy and its target price to $16 from $11. The consensus target is up at $26.67. The shares were last seen on Friday trading at $12.02.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Citigroup’s downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and it slashed its $177 target price to $130. That compares with a $177.74 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $126.99, which was down over 3% for the day on yet another Wall Street downgrade.

Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX): Zacks named this heavy equipment maker as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst points out that shares bottomed out well in advance of the major indexes during last year’s bear market. Shares last closed at $54.50 and have a consensus price target of $58.71.

Trip.com Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: TCOM): China Renaissance upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, but its $46 target price is less than the consensus target of $48.48. Friday’s $37.78 close was almost 5% higher for the day on the upgrade.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and $75 target price. The consensus target is $67.50, and Friday’s closing share price was $63.89.

UiPath Inc. (NYSE: PATH): Wells Fargo lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight with a $20 target price. The consensus target is $18.53 for now. The stock closed on Friday at $17.17, which was down over 6% for the day after the downgrade.

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The S&P 500 may have burst out of the longest bear market in over 70 years, but the current rally has been very narrow, with less than 10 stocks accounting for 95% of the gains. Investors may want to take profits on the strength and move to stocks with huge, dependable dividends.

See in which countries corporations cheat the free market most and which 19 companies were caught manipulating the American free market. Also, some American jobs had no union workers last year.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Archer Aviation, Corning, Dominion Energy, Equity Residential, Joby Aviation, Park Hotels & Resorts, Principal Financial, Target and UiPath.

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