Stocks traded higher on the first day of December, but Tuesday was being met with profit-taking. Many investors have missed the run back to all-time highs, and now they are having to decide how they want their assets positioned heading into 2021, as the elections wind down and the coronavirus vaccine starts to become available.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
Aaron’s Co. Inc. (NYSE: AAN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Securities.
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Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Securities. The stock closed up almost 1% at $25.54 a share on Tuesday, and it has a $22.90 consensus target price.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS | DKS Price Prediction) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this retail stock has become especially bullish recently. Shares most recently closed at $57.14, and they have a consensus price target of $68.32.
Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy with a $106 price objective at BofA Securities. The stock closed up 3.3% at $101.67 on Tuesday but was indicated down 2.8% at $98.80 early Wednesday.
Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. The stock closed up 13.4% at $36.52 a share on Tuesday and has a $30.31 consensus target price.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) stock closed up 4.6% at $67.08 a share on Tuesday after raising guidance. Mizuho reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $75 from $70.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was last seen trading up over 8% at $58.50 on Wednesday after its earnings report. Wedbush Securities reiterated it as Neutral with a $57 price target.
Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OVID) was last seen trading down 51% at $3.27 on Wednesday morning after its investigational study to treat Angelman syndrome did not meet expectations. Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and slashed the price target to $4 from $10.
Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $140 from $125 (versus a $112.03 prior close) at Needham.
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PROG Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PRG) was started with a Buy rating and a $65 price target (versus a $55.60 prior close) at Truist Securities. KeyBanc Capital Markets started it as Overweight and assigned a $65 price target.
RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the real deal here is earnings estimates are on sale. Shares last closed at $14.29, and they have a consensus price target of $17.46.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was down 1.8% at $241.35 ahead of earnings, and the post-earnings reaction and on the report of it acquiring Slack had its shares down over 5% at $228.25 on Wednesday morning. Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating but cut its target price to $278 from $285.
S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $415 price target (versus a $334.32 prior close) at Wells Fargo.
Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was confirmed as being acquired by Salesforce.com. Robert W. Baird downgraded Slack to Neutral from Outperform, and Canaccord Genuity downgraded it to Hold from Buy. MKM Partners lowered its Buy rating to Neutral.
Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $46 from $34 at Needham. The stock closed down about 1% at $40.07 a share on Tuesday, and it has a $31.11 consensus target price.
Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
10x Genomics Inc. (NASDAQ: TXG) was started with a Neutral rating and a $150 price target at Goldman Sachs. The shares closed down 2.1% at $149.84 apiece, and they had a $148.57 consensus analyst target.
Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO) was started with a Neutral rating and a $107 price target at Wedbush Securities.
Trip.com Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: TCOM) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $38 from $33 (versus a $34.41 prior close) at Mizuho.
Total S.E. (NYSE: TOT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $66 price target at MoffettNathanson.
Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was started with a Buy rating and a $30 price target (versus a $22.58 prior close) at MKM Partners.
Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) was started with an Outperform rating and a $67 price target (versus a $55.61 prior close, after a 5% drop) at Wedbush Securities.
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Gold had a scorching run earlier this year, but there are plenty of reasons for investors to have another look now. BofA Securities remains positive on these four top picks for 2021.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BioNTech, Charles Schwab, FedEx, First Solar, Micron Technologies, Nio, Occidental Petroleum, Salesforce.com, Square and Zoom Video Communications.
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