Monday Afternoon’s Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Southwest Air, United Airlines, Wells Fargo and More

Markets kicked off the New Year with a bang, each of the major averages was posting a solid gain for the day. Typically the first trading week of the year is fairly positive. Over the past 13 years, the S&P 500 has ended this week on a positive note 12 times. Investors are also looking forward to Friday to see how December’s employment report will shake out in the midst of the new Omicron variant.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Exxon, Hilton, McDonald’s Nike, PayPal, Peloton and more.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to an Overweight rating from Neutral and raised the price target to $208 from $181. Shares were trading around $170 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $208.20.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Deutsche Bank upgraded it to Buy from Hold and has a $285 price target. The 52-week trading range is $154.84 to $255.79, and shares were last seen trading near $255.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR): Wolfe Research’s downgrade was to Underperform from Peer Perform, and the firm cut the price target to $621 from $712. Shares were trading around $642 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $771.61.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): The MKM Partners downgrade was from Neutral to Sell with a $13 price target. The 52-week range is $12.86 to $21.96, and shares were trading near $14 apiece.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC): The Barclays upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a price target hike to $250 from $220. Shares were trading around $205 on Monday. The 52-week range is $141.60 to $217.60.

Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT): Wedbush raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and has a $14 price target. Shares were trading around $14 on Monday. The 52-week range is $13.84 to $43.00.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its $135 price target to $120. Shares were trading around $114 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $137.97.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): Though BofA Securities upgraded it to Buy from Neutral, the analyst cut the price target to $287 from $385. Shares were trading around $226 on Monday, and the 52-week trading range is $189.61 to $372.70.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): MKM Partners downgraded it from Buy to Neutral with a $45 price target. Shares were trading around $43 on Monday, and the 52-week trading range is $38.66 to $64.75.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE): The MKM Partners downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and the firm has a $25 price target. The 52-week trading range is $19.52 to $40.77, and shares were last seen trading near $22.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): MKM Partners raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $54 price target. Shares were trading around $45 on Monday, and the consensus target price is $59.56.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB): Barclays downgraded to an Equal Weight rating from Overweight with a $68 price target. The 52-week trading range is $42.47 to $63.01, and shares were trading near $57.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): Barclays upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight with a $68 price target. The 52-week range is $29.40 to $52.57, and shares were trading near $49 apiece.

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