The futures were trading flat Wednesday, as the big day finally has arrived as virtually everybody across Wall Street expects another 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate. All the major indexes closed lower Tuesday, after a solid open that was spurred on by lower interest rates. That all dissipated by midday as sellers took the upper hand into the afternoon session. After the Federal Reserve meeting and announcement Wednesday afternoon, all eyes will turn to Friday and the October nonfarm payrolls report.
Interest rates ended mixed Tuesday, after the aforementioned early strength in the Treasury market. The benchmark 10-year note opened at 3.94%, but sellers drove the yield to 4.05% by the close. The inversion with the two-year note remained in place, with the short paper closing at 4.55%.
The energy complex had a big day, as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed up right at 2%, with Brent near the $95 level. Traders and analysts noted that Brent could trade over the $100 level again when the European Union Russian oil imports by sea embargo kicks in next month. Natural gas gave back some of Monday’s massive gains, down over 9% to close at $5.85. Gold traded higher on the day, while Bitcoin closed modestly lower.
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 Wednesday, November 2, 2022.
Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $150 target price. The consensus target is just $126.07. Tuesday’s final trade was for $95.12 a share.
AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating but cut its $50 target price to $30. The consensus target is $45.65. Tuesday’s closing share price was $17.12.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform and hiked its $105 target price to $150. The consensus target is $142.34. The shares closed over 5% higher on Tuesday at $271.71 on a third-quarter earnings beat.
Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the shares, which reside on its Franchise Picks list of top picks. Its $35 target price compares with a $27.38 consensus target and the most recent close at $23.67.
Centerspace (NYSE: CSR): As Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight, it reduced its $85 target price to $70. The consensus target is $83.14 for now. The stock closed on Tuesday at $67.06, down over 3% for the day. The company posted a third-quarter net loss per share.
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