Stocks closed lower on Wednesday, and the indexes were down only slightly on Thursday morning. Investors are still trying to look into 2021, beyond the election, beyond spiking COVID-19 cases, beyond the vaccine and beyond a slowing of economic recovery. Many investors missed the run higher, and the major indexes are very close to all-time highs. With valuations stretched and with the market feeling overbought heading into year-end, investors need to decide how they want to be positioned for 2021.

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 Thursday, December 10, 2020.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $35 price target (versus a $28.92 prior close) at Wells Fargo.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $97 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE) was started with an Accumulate rating and a $32 price target (versus a $25.01 prior close, after an 18% drop) at Johnson Rice.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but its price target was raised to $2,250 from $2,050 at Citigroup.

Chimera Investment Corp. (NYSE: CIM) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $44 from $43 (versus a $42.70 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo.

CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $170 from $105 at Needham. Shares closed at $146.63 ahead of the call and have a $122.63 consensus target price.

Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR) was started as Underperform with a $16 price target (versus a $16.83 prior close) at Wolfe Research.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $194 price target (versus a $163.65 prior close) at Goldman Sachs.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold at HSBC.

Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ: ITCI) was started with a Buy rating and a $38 price target (versus a $24.58 prior close) at Goldman Sachs.

Levi Strass & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) was raised to Buy from Sell with a $23 price target (versus a $20.25 prior close) at Goldman Sachs.

Lipocine Inc. (NASDAQ: LPCN) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $3 price target at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Lordstown Motors Corp. (NASDAQ: RIDE) was started with an Underperform rating and a $14 price target (versus a $19.20 prior close) at Wolfe Research.

Mesa Air Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MESA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Parsley Energy Inc. (NYSE: PE) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $16 from $13 (versus a $14.21 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Qiwi PLC (NASDAQ: QIWI) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

RH (NYSE: RH) was reiterated as Outperform with a $520 price target (versus a $467.83 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Royal Caribbean Group Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it is time to consider pulling profits from this frothy cruise line. Shares last closed at $82.37 and have a consensus price target of $63.08.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold at HSBC.

Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that it is time to start adding chipmakers at the front of the Internet of Things portfolio. Shares most recently closed at $69.48 and have a consensus price target of $73.25.

Sprout’s Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $112 from $110 (versus a $100.40 prior close) at Cowen.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $47 price target at Barclays.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at a firm called New Street Research.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was started with a Buy rating and a $175 price target (versus a $154.43 prior close) at Stephens.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $27 from $25 (versus a $24.06 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its price target was raised to $215 from $190 (versus a $176.70 prior close) at Needham. JPMorgan downgraded it from Overweight to Neutral.

Five top pharmaceutical stocks with solid dividends heading into 2021 are expected to generate a solid total return for investors who want a somewhat safer and defensive exposure to the stock market.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Express, Apple, Baidu, CarMax, Chewy, Lululemon Athletica, Micron Technology, Moderna, Slack, Walt Disney and Zoom Video Communications.

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