U.S. stocks settled slightly lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling around 0.1% during the session marked by thin liquidity and low volumes following the Christmas market closure.



For the week, the S&amp;P 500 jumped 1.4% to record its fourth weekly surge in five weeks. The Dow and Nasdaq also added over 1% last 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: Michael Ciarmoli



<ul>
<li>Analyst Firm: Truist Securities</li>



<li>Ratings Accuracy: 86%</li>



<li>Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Heico Corp (NYSE:HEI) and increased the price target from $366 to $391 on Dec. 23. This analyst sees around 17% upside in the stock.</li>



<li>Recent News: On Dec. 18, Heico Corp posted upbeat quarterly earnings.</li>
</ul>



Analyst: Patrick Moley



<ul>
<li>Analyst Firm: Morgan Stanley</li>



<li>Ratings Accuracy: 85%</li>



<li>Latest Rating: Maintained an Overweight rating on CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) and boosted the price target from $314 to $320 on Dec. 22. This analyst sees around 15% upside in the stock.</li>



<li>Recent News: CME Group said it will announce earnings for the fourth quarter before the markets open on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.</li>
</ul>



Analyst: David Smith



<ul>
<li>Analyst Firm: Truist Securities</li>



<li>Ratings Accuracy: 82%</li>



<li>Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) and increased the price target from $47 to $51 on Dec. 22. This analyst expects around 12% surge in the stock.</li>



<li>Recent News: On Dec. 10, Ally Financial announced up to $2 billion in share repurchases.</li>
</ul>



Analyst: Christopher Dendrinos



<ul>
<li>Analyst Firm: RBC Capital</li>



<li>Ratings Accuracy: 82%</li>



<li>Latest Rating: Maintained an Outperform rating on GE Vernova Inc (NYSE:GEV) with a price target of $761 on Dec. 22. This analyst expects around 16% gain in the stock.</li>



<li>Recent News: On Dec. 22, GE Vernova disclosed that its Electrification Systems business has been awarded a major contract from Adani Energy Solutions Ltd. to supply high-voltage direct current technology for the 2.5-gigawatt Khavda–South Olpad renewable power transmission corridor in India.</li>
</ul>



Analyst: Timothy Arcuri



<ul>
<li>Analyst Firm: UBS</li>



<li>Ratings Accuracy: 82%</li>



<li>Latest Rating: Maintained a Buy rating on Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) and increased the price target from $175 to $200 on Dec. 23. This analyst expects around 13% jump in the stock.</li>



<li>Recent News: On Nov. 6, Lam Research announced a quarterly dividend of 26 cents per share.</li>
</ul>



Read More: 



<ul>
<li>Top 3 Consumer Stocks You May Want To Dump In Q4</li>
</ul>



Photo via Shutterstock

ALLY

LRCX

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% for the week, marking its fourth surge in five weeks. Analysts from Benzinga highlighted five top stock picks based on accuracy: Michael Ciarmoli (Truist) maintained a Buy on Heico Corp, raising the target to $391; Patrick Moley (Morgan Stanley) kept Overweight on CME Group, increasing the target to $320; David Smith (Truist) maintained Buy on Ally Financial, raising the target to $51; Christopher Dendrinos (RBC) kept Outperform on GE Vernova with a target of $761; Timothy Arcuri (UBS) maintained Buy on Lam Research, raising the target to $200.

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5 Stocks In The Spotlight Last Week: Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts Weigh In