Benzinga - by Avi Kapoor, Benzinga Staff Writer.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 index hitting a new record high during the session. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.4%, recording gains for the fourth week in a row.
Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis. Unfortunately for investors, not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements. Even when it comes to one single stock, analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely, leaving investors confused about which analyst's opinion to trust.
Benzinga's Analyst Ratings API is a collection of the highest-quality stock ratings curated by the Benzinga news desk via direct partnerships with major sell-side banks. Benzinga displays overnight ratings changes on a daily basis three hours prior to the U.S. equity market opening. Data specialists at investment dashboard provider Toggle.ai recently uncovered that the analyst insights Benzinga Pro subscribers and Benzinga readers regularly receive can successfully be used as trading indicators to outperform the stock market.
Top Analyst Picks: Fortunately, any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. One of the ways traders can sort through Benzinga's extensive database of analyst ratings is by analyst accuracy. Here's a look at the most recent stock picks from each of the five most accurate Wall Street analysts, according to Benzinga Analyst Stock Ratings.
Analyst: Jay McCanless
- Analyst Firm: Wedbush
- Ratings Accuracy: 89%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Neutral rating on Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) and raised the price target from $32 to $33 on Feb. 2, 2024. This analyst sees around 11% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Beazer Homes USA posted weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.
- Analyst Firm: JMP Securities
- Ratings Accuracy: 88%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Market Outperform rating on Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) and boosted the price target from $300 to $380 on Jan. 31, 2024. This analyst sees over 10% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: The company has been reportedly instructed to pay $151.5 million to Centripetal Networks following a jury’s determination that the security giant violated multiple patents, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- Analyst Firm: Oppenheimer
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Initiated coverage on Pinstripes Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PNST) with an Outperform rating and a price target of $6 on Jan. 30, 2024. This analyst sees around 60% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Pinstripes reported preliminary unaudited fiscal 2024 third-quarter total revenue of $32.2 million.
- Analyst Firm: Stifel
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) and boosted the price target from $405 to $527 on Feb. 2, 2024. This analyst sees around 11% surge in the stock.
- Recent News: Meta reported upbeat fourth-quarter financial results and initiated a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share.
- Analyst Firm: Wolfe Research
- Ratings Accuracy: 87%
- Latest Rating: Upgraded rating on Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGM) from Peer Perform to Outperform with a price target of $35 on Feb. 2, 2024. This analyst sees around 22% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Allegro MicroSystems reported mixed third-quarter financial results.
Read More: Jim Cramer: This Pet Retailer's Stock Is 'Low, That's Something Worth Taking A Look'
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