U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Friday, but the S&P 500 closed out last year with a gain of 24.2%. The Dow closed the year with a 13.7% gain, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 43.4% to record its best year since 2020.
Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis, yet 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: Any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings and even select 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: Sumeet Mody
- Analyst Firm: Piper Sandler
- Ratings Accuracy: 85%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Neutral rating on Enfusion, Inc. ENFN and raised the price target from $9 to $10 on Dec. 20, 2023, projecting around 3% increase in the stock.
- Recent News: Enfusion, during November, announced the appointment of Neal Pawar as COO.
Analyst: Ross Seymore
- Analyst Firm: Deutsche Bank
- Ratings Accuracy: 85%
- Latest Rating: Downgraded rating on Arm Holdings plc ARM from Buy to Hold but raised the price target from $60 to $70 on Dec. 18, 2023, anticipating around 7% downside in the stock.
- Recent News: Arm Holdings, during November, reported quarterly earnings of 36 cents, up from 17 cents per share year-over-year.
Analyst: Brian Bittner
- Analyst Firm: Oppenheimer
- Ratings Accuracy: 84%
- Latest Rating: Reiterated an Outperform rating on Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI with a price target of $185 on Dec. 18, 2023, expecting around 13% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Darden Restaurants, last month, posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter.
Analyst: Frank Schiraldi
- Analyst Firm: Piper Sandler
- Ratings Accuracy: 84%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on The Bancorp, Inc. TBBK and raised the price target from $49 to $51 on Dec. 21, 2023, projecting around 27% surge in the stock.
- Recent News: The Bancorp, during October, reported weaker-than-expected results for the third quarter.
Analyst: Aaron Rakers
- Analyst Firm: Wells Fargo
- Ratings Accuracy: 84%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on Micron Technology, Inc. MU and boosted the price target from $82 to $95 on Dec. 21, 2023, expecting over 11% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: Micron Technology, last month, reported mixed first-quarter financial results and issued strong guidance.
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