Wednesday Afternoon’s Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Home Depot, Marathon Oil, PayPal, Qualcomm and More

Although futures were fairly positive, markets opened on a negative note, despite strong earnings reports from Home Depot, Target and Walmart. The retail sales economic report showed better than expected numbers for the month of October as well, the best numbers since last March.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. 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 Alcoa, Apple, Boeing, Palantir, Splunk, Tyson Foods and more.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Scotiabank upgraded the stock to an Outperform rating from Sector Perform, and it has a $36 price target. The consensus price target is $32.73, and shares were trading near $29 apiece.

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN): Robert Baird started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $82 price target. Shares were last seen near $74 on Wednesday, and they have a consensus price target of $84.29.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI): Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $270 price target. The 52-week trading range is $190.88 to $272.81, and shares were last seen near $262.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Wolfe Research started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $30 price target. Shares were trading around $21 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $30.57.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH): Roth Capital reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $270 from $220. Goldman Sachs also reiterated a Buy rating, and it raised its $235 price target to $270. Susquehanna reiterated a Positive rating and raised the target price from $210 to $290. Shares were trading near $259, but the consensus target price is just $221.17.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Piper Sandler reiterated a Neutral rating but raised the price target to $400 from $323. UBS reiterated its Buy rating and raised the $410 price target to $440. Raymond James reiterated it at Outperform while raising the price target to $420 from $400. Wedbush reiterated it at Neutral, and the firm hiked the $340 price target to $410. Shares were around $395 on Wednesday, and the consensus price target is $381.44.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO): Scotiabank’s downgrade was to Sector Perform from Outperform, and it has a $19 price target. The 52-week range is $5.37 to $17.59, and the share price was near $16 on last look.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): Bernstein lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform and cut the price target to $220 from $260. The 52-week trading range is $189.54 to $310.16, and the share price was near $208.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Mizuho reiterated a Buy rating and raised the price target to $195 from $170. Deutsche Bank also reiterated a Buy rating, and it raised its $190 price target to $210. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated an Overweight rating and raised the target price from $185 to $210. The consensus target is $194.91. The stock was trading on Wednesday above $183.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) MoffettNathanson’s downgrade to Sell from Neutral included a price target cut from $330 to $220. Shares were trading near $251 on Wednesday, and the consensus price target is $401.96.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): BofA Securities downgraded it to Neutral from Buy but raised the price target to $385 from $380. Shares were trading near $300, and the consensus target price is $390.99.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Hold rating and a $45 price target. Shares were trading shy of $42 on Wednesday, and the consensus price target is $53.44.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with a Peer Perform rating and a $75 price target. The 52-week range is $33.77 to $74.37, and the share price was near $64.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): Wolfe Research started coverage with a Peer Perform rating and a $27 price target. The 52-week trading range is $10.72 to $30.57, and the share price was near $25.

Zions Bancorp. N.A. (NASDAQ: ZION): The Wolfe Research upgrade to Outperform from Peer Perform included a price target hike to $85 from $64. The consensus target is $66.00. The stock was trading on Wednesday above $66.

ALSO READ: 4 Top Analyst Stock Picks With Dividend Hikes Expected This Week

24/7 Wall St. screened the BofA Securities research universe database looking for the mega-retailers that look poised to cash in this year. Five stocks are all rated Buy and look like excellent choices for investors looking to add retail exposure in front of the holiday season.

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