Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Block, Dish Network, Foot Locker, Gap, Moderna, Penn National Gaming, Shopify and More

The futures were lower once again, as shell-shocked investors return for another week with volatility increasing and seemingly every uptick and rally being sold. The major indexes were all hit again on Friday, with both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 reaching 52-week lows. Clearly, Thursday’s drastic sell-off has put a chill on investors. And the parabolic rise in interest rates was a huge contributing factor to last week’s rollercoaster ride. While Federal Reserve Chair Powell suggested that, for now, the 75-basis-point hikes are off the table, still we will have back-to-back June and July 50-basis-point increases.

The April nonfarm payrolls came in higher than expected Friday, which was at least one positive for a negative and reeling stock market. Oil prices moved up, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate closing higher on Friday, after taking a breather for most of the week. Natural gas closed lower, down almost 5% Friday, after a massive run that has taken prices over $8 for the first time since 2008. Gold also closed higher on Friday.

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, May 9, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $368 price objective. The consensus target of analysts is just $255.16. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Friday at $242.41.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Goldman Sachs slashed its $320 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $216. The consensus target is $302.53 for now. The last trade Friday was reported at $121, down over 20% for the day despite some positive metrics during earnings.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating following a solid earnings report but cut the $173 price target to $152. The consensus target is $172.71. The last trade for Friday was reported at $96.16.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Jefferies reaffirmed a Buy rating on the multi-faceted golf company and has a large $60 target price. The consensus is just $38.58, and the closing share price on Friday was $20.24.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI): Cowen raised its Market Perform rating on the health care giant to Outperform and lifted the $242 price target to $329. The shares closed up almost 6% on Friday at $266.90.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed the $200 price target to $120, in line with the $120.11 consensus target. The stock closed over 7% lower on Friday at $60.87.

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