Futures were somewhat mixed on Tuesday morning. Monday saw a big bounce to close out the month of January, with the Nasdaq leading the charge higher with a gain of about 3.4%. However, the broad markets still are close to correction territory, after facing down what was the worst trading month since March 2020 (peak pandemic market carnage), which is really saying something. Most of this move has been brought about by the Federal Reserve’s decisions in regard to monetary policy to combat inflation by raising interest rates.
Despite the recent pullback, one big positive for investors and the economy is that the surge of Omicron cases appears to be peaking and starting to fall. The corporate stock buyback windows are starting to reopen, and that could put a supporting bid under the market. Some strategists even noted that stocks have performed reasonably well against an inflation backdrop and the prospect of continued rate hikes, compared to the past.
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 Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to a Neutral rating from Underperform. Shares closed Monday at $220.74, in a 52-week range of $133.82 to $291.48.
Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the price target to $65 from $84. Shares were trading at around $55.50 in Tuesday morning’s premarket. The 52-week range is $49.67 to $140.36.
BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX): Redburn’s upgrade was to Neutral from Sell. The 52-week trading range is $90.29 to $464.00, and shares last closed at $172.08.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): UBS downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and has a $50 price target. Shares were trading around $88.62 at Monday’s close, and the 52-week range is $40.90 to $89.74.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Underweight and raised the price target to $40 from $39. The stock was trading around $34.57 at Monday’s close, and the consensus target price is $50.89.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS): The BofA Securities downgrade to Underperform from Buy included a price target cut to $30 from $40. Shares were trading around $32 in Tuesday’s premarket session, and the consensus target price is $49.50.
Kemper Corp. (NYSE: KMPR): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. The 52-week trading range is $51.39 to $83.98, and shares were last seen trading near $60 early on Tuesday.
Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): BofA Securities upgraded it to Neutral from Underperform. Shares were trading at $23.01 on Monday’s close. The 52-week range is $14.73 to $33.04.
Luminar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LAZR): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $14 price target. The stock was trading around $15 early on Tuesday, and the consensus target price is $25.73.
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