Investors should often take analyst ratings with a grain of salt, as there are often hidden interests and agendas behind each rating and price target. The truth is, these analysts are regular people with normal jobs. If they are wrong on a call they make on a particular stock, then there is a very real risk of them losing their job, not to mention tarnishing their reputation moving forward.
Knowing this, investors should place even more importance on the analysts' views that go beyond this consensus, the outliers. Since there is always a common view, which significantly influences the rest of Wall Street's leniency on a stock's rating, those analysts who place a price target or valuation that goes above and beyond this consensus range are now on the hook to have a very good reason for doing so.
