Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Chevron, CrowdStrike, Meta Platforms, Nordstrom, Oracle, PayPal, Spotify, Twitter and More

The futures were higher as we get set to end another crazy, rollercoaster week of trading that saw some huge moves both up and down. All the major indexes closed lower after diplomatic progress between Ukraine and Russia bogged down and the fighting continued, and inflation, as measured by the February consumer price index reading, came in at 7.9% on a year-over-year basis, the highest level in 40 years. All the major indexes were down big but rallied in the last hour of trading to close well off the lows. The Nasdaq once again led the slide, down close to 1%, while just avoiding closing back into bear market territory, down over 20%.

Surprisingly, the transport index posted a big 1.2% gain, as oil closed lower for the second day this week after a massive run, while gold rallied back after being bludgeoned on Thursday. The sellers returned to the Treasury market, as yields across all maturities climbed, with the benchmark 10-year note reclaiming the 2% level.

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 Friday, March 11, 2022.

Agiliti Inc. (NYSE: AGTI): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating but lowered the price objective to $28 from $32. The consensus target is $26.56. Thursday’s closing trade was at $18.06 a share.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $3,150 target price. The consensus target is $3,498.33. The stock closed Thursday at $2,653.64.

Asana Inc. (NYSE: ASAN): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut the price objective in half, to $32 from $66. The consensus target, for now, is $84. The last trade for Thursday was recorded at $38.01, down a stunning 22% after disappointing results.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP): Stifel raised the $222 price target to $238 and reiterated a Hold rating. The consensus target is $216.82. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $209.70.

Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA): Mizuho started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $47 price target. The consensus target is $42.60. The closing trade for Thursday was at $45.67.

C4 Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CCCC): J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $43 price objective. The consensus target is higher at $52.80. The stock closed on Thursday at $24.07.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): J.P. Morgan downgraded the integrated energy giant to Underweight from Neutral and has a $169 target price. The consensus target is $154.50. The stock closed at $170.82 on Thursday.

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE: CTRA): Piper Sandler cut its Overweight rating to Neutral and trimmed the target price to $25 from $26. The consensus price objective is $27.80. The stock closed Thursday at $26.33, which was up almost 4% for the day. With it closing close to a 52-week high, this could be a valuation call.

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