U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Friday. However, all three major indices notched gains last week, with the S&P 500 gaining about 2.3% and the Dow adding approximately 2% to record its best week since December.
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: Brian Bittner
- Analyst Firm: Oppenheimer
- Ratings Accuracy: 88%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Outperform rating on Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) and boosted the price target from $108 to $120 on March 22, 2024. This analyst sees around 10% increase in the stock.
- Recent News: On March 21, Shake Shack said its Board of Directors has appointed Rob Lynch to the role of Chief Executive Officer and board member, effective May 20, 2024.
Analyst: Keith Hughes
- Analyst Firm: Truist Securities
- Ratings Accuracy: 88%
- Latest Rating: Reiterated a Hold rating on Core & Main, Inc. (NYSE:CNM) with a price target of $38 on March 20, 2024. This analyst sees around 35% downside in the stock.
- Recent News: On March 19, Core & Main reported upbeat sales results for its fourth quarter.
Analyst: Matt Bryson
- Analyst Firm: Wedbush
- Ratings Accuracy: 86%
- Latest Rating: Reiterated an Outperform rating on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) with a price target of $1,000 on March 19, 2024. This analyst sees around 6% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On March 18, NVIDIA highlighted several new products and partnerships during its GTC artificial intelligence event.
Analyst: Lauren Silberman
- Analyst Firm: Deutsche Bank
- Ratings Accuracy: 86%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) and increased the price target from $3,100 to $3,300 on March 20, 2024. This analyst sees around 15% surge in the stock.
- Recent News: Last week, Chipotle Mexican Grill company announced its first ever stock split.
Analyst: Aaron Rakers
- Analyst Firm: Wells Fargo
- Ratings Accuracy: 85%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and increased the price target from $125 to $135 on March 21, 2024. This analyst sees around 23% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Micron Technology, last week, reported upbeat results for its fiscal second quarter.
Read More: Top 5 Consumer Stocks That May Crash This Month