U.S. stocks settled lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite dipping more than 2% during the session to record its worst week since June.
The S&P 500 declined about 2% last week, while the Nasdaq tumbled more than 4%. The Dow, however, gained 0.7% on the week.
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: Rob Owens
- Analyst Firm: Piper Sandler
- Ratings Accuracy: 83%
- Latest Rating: Downgraded rating on Varonis Systems Inc (NASDAQ:VRNS) from Overweight to Neutral and cut the price target from $58 to $49.75 on Oct. 16. This analyst sees around 3% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On Oct. 15, Varonis System announced that it will be taken private by Thoma Bravo at $49.75 per share in cash.
Analyst: Fatima Boolani
- Analyst Firm: Citigroup
- Ratings Accuracy: 81%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Neutral rating on Varonis Systems Inc (NASDAQ:VRNS) and raised the price target from $45 to $49.75 on Oct. 16. This analyst sees around 3% upside in the stock.
- Recent News: On Oct. 15, Varonis System announced that it will be taken private by Thoma Bravo at $49.75 per share in cash.
Analyst: Keith Horowitz
- Analyst Firm: Citigroup
- Ratings Accuracy: 80%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) and cut the price target from $72 to $70 on Oct. 16. This analyst sees around 20% gain in the stock.
- Recent News: On Oct. 15, U.S. Bancorp reported upbeat third-quarter 2026 earnings, while revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street estimates.
Analyst: Saket Kalia
- Analyst Firm: Barclays
- Ratings Accuracy: 79%
- Latest Rating: Maintained an Equal-Weight rating on CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CCC) and cut the price target from $8 to $7.75 on Oct. 16. This analyst expects around 2% gain in the stock.
- Recent News: On Oct. 15, CCC Intelligent Solutions agreed to be acquired by GTCR and Elliott Investment Management for $6.1 billion.
Analyst: Patrick Tyler Brown
- Analyst Firm: Raymond James
- Ratings Accuracy: 77%
- Latest Rating: Maintained a Strong Buy rating on Construction Partners Inc (NASDAQ:ROAD) and cut the price target from $150 to $145 on Oct. 16. This analyst sees around 75% jump in the stock.
- Recent News: On Aug. 7, Construction Partners reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its FY26 sales guidance above estimates.
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