Will Santa Claus Rally Be on Time? Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Moderna, Tesla, Verizon and More

After the past two weeks of selling, investors are looking for any sign that there could be the anticipated seasonal year-end move higher known as the Santa Claus Rally. However, Monday does not look like the day stocks all start moving in the right direction, as all three of the major indexes were trading lower approaching midday. Recently macroeconomic headwinds have been driving stocks lower, and the outlook going forward does not look good.

S&P Global suggested last week in its preliminary readings on economic activity that markets could further deteriorate into 2023. In fact, the agency is predicting that gross domestic product will contract at an annualized rate of roughly 1.5% at the same time job growth is slowing and might only get worse if inflation does not drop off.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional 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 upgrades and downgrades seen earlier in the day were on Dollar General, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Verizon and more.

American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: AEP): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and trimmed its $101 target price to $98. The consensus target is $104.20. The shares traded $95.05 Monday.

Apollo Medical Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AMEH): Lake Street initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $38. The shares have traded between $26.89 and $75.23 over the past 52 weeks and were just shy of $29.75 on Monday, which was down almost 5% on the day.

AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: AXS): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. It also trimmed its $63 target price to $60, near the $60.83 consensus target. The stock has traded between $48.32 and $61.39 over the past year, and on Monday was trading near $54.51.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH): Northland Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $365 target price objective. The consensus target is lower at $317.07. The 52-week trading range is 113.40 to $339.93, and the shares were trading close to $304.48 on Monday.

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE: MTD): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock from Underweight to Neutral with a $1,350 target price. The consensus target is $1358.42, and the 52-week trading range is $1065.55 to $1714.75. Shares were trading near $1416 on Monday.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA): Jefferies raised its Hold rating on the vaccine giant to Buy and its $170 target price to $275. The consensus target is $212.47. The 52-week trading range is $115.03 to $321.30, and the stock traded at $192.83 on Monday.

PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI): The upgrade at KeyBanc Capital Markets was from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $170 target. The consensus target is $155.08. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $113.46 to $203.16 and were near $139.20 on Monday.

ALSO READ: 5 Formerly Red-Hot Stocks Are Buy-Rated and Incredibly Trading Under $10

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Oppenheimer cut its Outperform rating to Perform. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $150.04 to $402.67 and has a $258.51 consensus target. The shares were trading near $148 on Monday.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ): MoffettNathanson’s prior Underperform rating is now Market Perform. Its $41 target price is less than the $45.42 consensus target. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $34.55 to $55.51 and were spotted Monday trading at $37.35.

Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ: WMG): The Atlantic Equities upgrade to Overweight from Neutral included a target price hike to $41 from $34. The consensus target is $34.89. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $21.57 to $44.64. The stock was changing hands near $34.50 Monday.

Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM): The Buy rating at Stifel has dropped to Hold, and the firm’s target price was cut to $171 from $185. The consensus target is $175.25. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $138.58 and $175.98, and shares were seen near $158.65 on Monday.

Seven stocks from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are dividend-paying market leaders that appear poised to not only thrive in the higher interest rate environment but could very possibly be huge 2023 winners.

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