Principal Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PFG): Credit Suisse downgraded the insurance and investment heavyweight to Underperform from Neutral. Its $86 price target is still well above the $78.46 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $89.11.
Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS): Citing its reliable growth, Zacks named this cloud security firm as its Bull of the Day stock. The shares last closed at $117.74, and the consensus price target of $562.43 represents almost 20% upside.
Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $104 target price. The consensus target is $104.45. The stock closed at $99.49 on Thursday.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $45 target price. The consensus target is $40.91. Thursday’s final trade was for $38.64 a share.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Underweight from Neutral came with a target price cut to $16 from $25. The consensus target is $27.63 for now. Shares closed on Thursday at $16.50, down almost 4% on the day.
Sovos Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: SOVO): UBS downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy. It also trimmed its $17 target price to $16, below the $17.60 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $13.20, down almost 5% for the day, likely on the downgrade.
Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $59.75. Thursday’s close was at $37.65.
Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): When J.P. Morgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight it also boosted its $185 price target to $200. The consensus target is $198.77. Thursday’s close was at $182.81.
Seven of the highest-yielding Warren Buffett stock picks not only make sense for growth and income investors but they also look like outstanding ideas for 2023, when we could see a new bull market by the summer.
Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, Applied Materials, AutoZone, BorgWarner, Carvana, Dominion Energy, EQT, MongoDB, NRG Energy, PagSeguro Digital, Southwestern Energy, Stitch Fix, StoneCo and TripAdvisor. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AppLovin, Citigroup, General Dynamics, Hershey, JPMorgan Chase, Match, Mondelez International, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Salesforce, Shopify and more.
Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.
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